Resembling a large moth with spotted wings, the Spotted Lanternhopper Planthopper hops and flies throughout New York and the Northeastern United States. The invasive species from China causes problems, so the command is: trample!
The spotted lantern bearer cicada even made it to “Saturday Night Live”. “People tell their kids to kick me,” complained comedian Bowen Yang, who dressed as the insect, on the comedy show. “I’m just trying to live my life, find a partner and have 3,000 to 4,000 babies.” The insect with the scientific name “Lycorma delicatula” seems to be ubiquitous in the north-east of the USA – in the media, in conversations between friends and acquaintances and above all in the environment – from forests, meadows, parks and fields to New York. According to scientists at Pennsylvania State University, the insects seem to feel particularly at home there on the sun-warmed outer walls of the high-rise buildings made of glass and concrete.
The Spotted Lantern Bearer Planthopper is native to Southeast Asia and China. It can be recognized by its wings, which in the adult stage are partly conspicuously black dotted and partly bright red. It was first sighted in Pennsylvania in 2014 – but it was only this year that the animals spread across 14 states and became a real plague. They don’t seem to have made it to Europe yet.
The adult insects, which are around 20 centimeters long, are harmless to humans, but they can cause great damage in nature and agriculture. They pierce through leaves and stems, suck out the plants and have already caused millions of dollars in damage. “The spotted planthopper is a threat to many fruit plants and trees,” says the US Department of Agriculture. “If we allow it to spread across the US, this plague could seriously damage wine, fruit and lumber production.”
To combat the insects, which tend to hop rather than fly, the responsible authorities in many US states have launched an unusual appeal to the population: Please step on them! “Kill ’em! Kick ’em, beat ’em to death… just get rid of ’em,” says the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, for example. The administration of Central Park in New York asks visitors to step on the animals – and countless people do so. The park and many sidewalks in the metropolis are full of crushed cicadas in some places.
For some people, killing Lanternhopper Planthoppers has become something of a hobby, and they proudly report their successes. There is even an app called “Squishr” where you can compete with other players. Other people generally do not want to kill animals, even if they are potentially harmful insects. The “Dilemma of the Spotted Lantern Bearer Cicada” is what the “New York Magazine” calls it: “Tread or not tread?”
With the onset of frost, the insects will disappear from New York and the affected states in the coming weeks – but they have already laid their eggs and they can survive the winter. Young animals can hatch in the spring. Then experts fear, above all, a further spread towards the west of the USA – for example in the wine-growing regions of California.
Scientists know that footsteps alone won’t solve the problem – but there aren’t many other options just yet, mainly because the insect damages so many different plants and lays its numerous eggs in so many different places. “If we don’t stop it, it will spread,” Pennsylvania State University researcher Julie Urban told CNN. “Long-term research-based solutions are on the way. But we need help buying time.”