By Stephen Smoot
A voracious insect pest from abroad has had its presence confirmed in Pendleton County, according to Jessica Hoover, one of Pendleton County’s West Virginia University Extension Service agents.
In the fall of 2024, James Watson of the West Virginia Department of Agriculture shared that the “spotted lanternfly poses a threat to several important agricultural crops, namely grapes and hops, and then unfortunately several of our important forestry trees, specifically black walnut, staghorn sumac, sugar maple, and red maple.”
For multiple reasons, the arrival of the spotted lantern fly in Pendleton County comes with specific threats to both local safety and the local economy.
Though called a fly, the insect has a closer evolutionary relationship to grasshoppers. In the younger stages of its life cycle it hops short distances, then flies slightly farther as an adult. With little fear of human beings, they tend to travel farthest by “hitchhiking” with human modes of personal or commercial transportation.
People can unknowingly move the inconspicuous egg masses over long distances when moving plants such as in the “nursery trade.”
Hoover wrote that “while SLF can infest more than 70 species of fruit, ornamental, and forest trees and vines, the spotted lantern fly prefers the tree of heaven – an equally invasive species” from East Asia that grows quickly and can crowd out vulnerable native species.
They pose at least a major two-fold threat to Pendleton County. In a recent Local Emergency Planning committee meeting for Pendleton County, Rick Gillespie, emergency services coordinator, declared that the health of the area forest has declined considerably. Blights and parasites have killed many elm and ash trees that once heavily populated the area.
Destruction of more trees by spotted lantern flies can create more dead wood in the forests that serves as fuel for potentially devastating wildfires. The accumulation of such debris, according to Gillespie, has made traditionally tamer Appalachian wildfires more akin to severe fires in the drier Western states.
Additionally, the insect’s taste for maples aims directly at a growing local industry carefully guided by Future Generations University, the Pendleton County Convention and Visitors Bureau, WVU Extension, the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, and others. Though maple production currently only tallies in the tens of thousands of gallons per year in West Virginia, maple serves as part of an essential economic support for several Pendleton County farms, businesses, and non profits.
It also serves as the core of a science and economics education program for fourth graders led by Chris and Melissa Grimes at North Fork Elementary School, as well as the base for their veterans’ support non profit Mountain Cajun Getaways.
According to Hoover, the key to slowing the expansion of the spotted lantern fly in Pendleton County lies in tracking down and destroying the plant host that first attracts them to an area, the tree of heaven. Also “the WVDA recommends eradication efforts such as using physical traps, destroying egg masses, and checking vehicles and other items for SLF before traveling.
Additionally, in general, experts advise either care in taking firewood from one place to another for the purposes of keeping one’s home warm. They also warn to not transport firewood across long distances for recreational purposes at all, including for camping and bonfires.
The National Park Service in 2019 warned that the “invasive insect native to China, India, and Vietnam” first had a confirmed sighting in 2014 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Nineteen counties in West Virginia had reported the presence of the insect prior to Pendleton.
“If you see a spotted lantern fly,” stated Hoover, “you are encouraged to report it and kill it.” Reports to the WVDA’s bu********@**da.us should include photographs and as much detail about the insect and activity as possible.
