Volume 30 Issue 3, Summer 2025
by BJ Lecrone, Wildlife Sanctuary Ambassador
A spider makes a meal of an early-stage Spotted Lanternfly nymph. Photo by BJ Lecrone
We knew there were Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) hotspots in Loudoun County last year as they were moving into the area. Now the reports are a resounding and exasperated realization that they are already a large part of our summer in many areas of Loudoun. You can refresh your history by reading a previous article, but I will pick up on a few updates for our 2025 season. Local wildlife is adapting to the nonnative SLF as a food source now.
Birds, spiders, assassin bugs, and praying mantids have been spotted eating them. Adding more hope, Doug Tallamy — entomologist, author, and co-founder of the Homegrown National Park movement — has said that Pennsylvania was finally seeing their quantities declining last year.
I started preparing for their arrival in December by scraping SLF egg masses off my maple trees. That eliminated the hatch of 1,000 future creatures. Next, I was clapping or squishing black with white spots SLF nymphs in May and June. I am selective and have not harmed the other beneficial insects on my property. I’m aware that weevils and even spiders can look similar if you quickly glance, but the trained and caring eye easily spots a line of SLFs hanging out together.
I’m satisfied that I will have thousands less flying and laying more eggs this fall. That’s likely a drop in the bucket, but it means I won’t have to deal with upwards of 2,000 adults in late summer and fall. You may wonder what their favorite plants are on my property. All of the Ailanthus altissima — Trees of Heaven (TOH), the Spotted Lanternfly’s host plant — have been removed, but there are plenty on my neighbors’ properties, which is a problem. I find nymphs lounging on Common Milkweed, but they seem happiest congregating on Wild Grape and Staghorn Sumac in my meadow.
Immature Spotted Lanternflies, in the white-spotted red of their final larval stage, congregate on a branch. Photo by John Macier.
What should you do?
- Read this article by “Humane Gardener” Nancy Lawson to refresh your perspective, and try to remain calm.
- Keep removing TOH and be a part of any volunteer effort to remove them.
- If you hire a company to remove TOH, remember that the tree should be responsibly treated so that the root system doesn’t rebound with hundreds more TOHs. (Blue Ridge PRISM lists proper methods in its TOH fact sheet.)
- Don’t spray chemicals, including homemade vinegar remedies, recklessly. Other insects are already in such a huge decline and don’t need to be recklessly killed.
- Do not use sticky tape! It’s heartbreaking to see a bird or snake caught on tape as collateral damage. If you do use it, absolutely put a screen guard around it. I cannot bring myself to chance killing other wildlife with this method.
- Squashing an SLF feels satisfying. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make a meaningful dent compared with the overall population. There’s ongoing conversation about what this behavior teaches children and what bird food it removes from the environment. But if we take the time to explain the facts, lead with kindness, and encourage thoughtful action, perhaps that’s lesson enough. You be the judge.
- While science supports the fact that individual efforts like stomping SLFs don’t reduce their spread, there is a community effort that can help: join the spring “Scrape for the Grape” campaign, which targets the egg masses before they hatch. It’s organized by the Loudoun Invasive Removal Alliance.
There is no need to report SLF in Loudoun County now. They are here to stay in whatever numbers we have to deal with. It may take years, but our natural predators are learning they’re edible, and the SLF problem should resolve similar to the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug invasion of the late 1990s. Appreciate and love the other creatures that are integral to the balance of nature around us, and we can anticipate noticing other creatures enjoying many tasty SLFs this summer.