FILE - A group of adult Spotted Lannternflies on Sept. 28, 2020, in Reading, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images) "It was like it was raining lanternflies when you walk outside," Gavyn Essner told FOX 29 Philadelphia of the sheer number of bugs in his yard.The spotted lanternfly is not only pervasive and invasive but deadly to plants.
The plant-hopping bug pierces plants with their mouth and sucks sugary sap out of the stems, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. "Our yard – this was the worst year so far," said Essner about the insects.
He started noticing lanternflies three to four years ago in his Williamstown, New Jersey yard. "The previous years we have seen them here and there, nothing major, but this is by far the worst.
I had to wrap tape around the trees this year."Essner wrapped tape around his trees. This is only four days of bugs. (FOX 29 Philadelphia) The lanternfly is even more destructive to hardwood forests, orchards and vineyards.