Michelle Merlin reports for The Morning Call:
Christmastime has long haunted tree experts with threats of weevils and aphids, and (for non-Muggles) pesky nargles. With the spotted lanternfly, the real risk is not to fir, pine or spruce but in inadvertently moving the bug to a new area and helping it spread across the state or even further.
“The hazard is people cut down a tree within the quarantine area and then they take it for the holiday to some relative or friend far out of the quarantine area,” said Emelie Swackhamer, a Penn State Extension horticulture educator.
At the state level, inspectors in quarantined areas reached out to Christmas tree growers and created compliance agreements with anyone who thought their trees would be going into homes in lanternfly-free areas.
Experts fear the invasive bug, which was first discovered in eastern Berks County in 2014, will hurt stone fruit, grapes and other agricultural products. The plant hopper is native to China, India and Vietnam and was invasive in Korea, where it was found in 2004, and damaged several plant species which also grow in Pennsylvania.
The state had issued quarantines in municipalities where it had been seen until a few weeks ago, when officials issued countywide quarantines — meaning products can’t be moved from one place to another without being checked for the bugs and their eggs — and added seven new counties to the list.
Experts hope they can avoid spreading the spotted lanternfly further by warning people about its potential dispersal via Christmas tree.
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