I receive pictures quite often from readers of my column and customers of my business. I’ve seen almost everything from birds and trees to fungi and fish. But when I received a particular insect photo last week, I was both excited and sad.
Avid local fisherman Dennis Osterrieder of Hopewell Township was fishing below the Dashields Dam on the Ohio River when he snapped the picture.
“It was a week ago Thursday when I was fishing along the rocks below the wing wall at the Dashields Dam,” said Osterrieder. “I had spent the first two hours without a bite when things turned around and caught seven fish in thirty minutes.
“As I was sitting on the rocks watching my rods waiting for the next bite, this bug landed on a rock right in front of me. I thought it possibly could be one of those spotted lanternflies so I took a picture. Unfortunately the darn thing fly away before I had a chance to catch it.”
The picture Osterrieder sent to me was indeed an adult spotted lanternfly. I gave him a call to get the back story and said I would look into it for him.
The spotted lanternfly is an invasive planthopper native to Asia first discovered in Pennsylvania in Berks County in 2014.
The bug feeds on the sap from a myriad of plants but has a strong preference for plants important to Pennsylvania’s economy including grapevines, maples, black walnut, birch and willow. The feeding damage caused by the spotted lanternfly stresses the plants which can decrease their health and in some cases cause the death of the plant.
A 2019 economic impact study estimates that, uncontrolled, this insect could cost the state $324 million annually and more than 2,800 jobs.
I reported the sighting to the Penn State Co-Operative Extension in State College at 1-888-4BADFLY. The Extension takes all reports and forwards them to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
While everyone should be on the lookout for the spotted lanternfly and report those sightings, businesses operating in Pennsylvania are bound under law to a higher responsibility.
In Pennsylvania, a spotted lanternfly permit is required for businesses, agencies and organizations working within the quarantine zone, which move regulated articles such as products, vehicles or other conveyances within or out of the quarantine zone.
A permit is also needed to move regulated articles into Pennsylvania from areas outside the state with spotted lanternfly populations.
Both Beaver and Allegheny counties are in the quarantine zone.
Next week the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture will be conducting spotted lanternfly permit and inspection record checks for businesses in Allegheny, Beaver, and Westmoreland Counties beginning on September 20.
The inspections will be conducted by the Spotted Lanternfly Compliance and Enforcement Team to insure businesses that operate or do business in quarantined counties are have their permit. Businesses are responsible for maintaining a trained, engaged workforce. Violators of permit requirements are subject to up to $300 per violation plus associated court costs.
The spotted lanternfly business permit and inspection canvassing program aims to raise awareness of the value of quarantine compliance actions that work to slow the spread of this invasive pest. Department canvassers will always show their commonwealth ID and will ask to see proof of permit in addition to inspection and training records.
For more information on Spotted Lanternfly, visit the Department of Agriculture’s website.
Mike Barcaskey can be reached at mikebarcaskey@outlook.com.
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