Spotted Lantern FLy

Spotted Lantern Fly Ohio

What is it?

The Spotted Lanternfly is an invasive species of planthopper. They are originally from the Southeast parts of Asia, primarily China and Vietnam. Likely a hitchhiker on imported goods, it was first found in 2014. It eventually reached Ohio by 2020 and was first reported in Lorain County in 2022.

The Spotted Lanternfly’s primary host plant, Tree of Heaven, is another invasive species from a similar region of Asia. While that is the primary host plant, they feed on various other woody plants including grapes, hops, fruit trees, and other hardwood trees, vines, and shrubs. They feed on these plants using a piercing, sucking mouthpart called a proboscis to feed on plant sap. This feeding has the potential to cause plant stress that can impact the overall health of a plant over time.

Grapes are considered to be one of the more vulnerable crops to Spotted Lanternfly feeding.

Credit: OSU Extension - Lorain County

How Can We Help?

Trunk Injection

In theory, the SLF is not a difficult insect to control, and they can be controlled with many of the common insecticides already in use.

The problem that we have been encountering with control is the size of the trees along with the size of the populations.

Soil applied products are effective with the control, but can take longer for a heavier population.

We are now recommending to use a trunk injected product for a faster knockdown.

How is this applied?

Our trunk injection system places insecticide directly into the vascular system of the tree. This both reduces uptake time and any unwanted product exposure.

How long does it last?

We only use top of the line products for our clients. The product that we provide remains active in the tree for 2-3 years.

614-432-2834