🍃🍇Here's another bug to worry about: the spotted lanternfly. This invasive plant-hopper particularly enjoys feeding on grapes, and it’s present in New York State, just a border away from the agriculturally significant Niagara Region. [1/10] 
https://twitter.com/joshxsherman/status/1430272015257280516
There are currently no established lanternfly populations in Canada, but as @InvSp programmer Mandy Ehnes says: "There are concerns now, especially with people moving across the border,” that travelers could unwittingly bring the insect with them. [2/10]
The lanternfly is thought to have arrived in the U.S. on a stone shipment at some point between 2012 and 2014. “They feed on over 70 types of plants, and although they lay their eggs in the vicinity they’re growing up in, they’ll lay their eggs on anything,” Ehnes says. [3/10]
.@OMAFRA entomologist Hannah Fraser says those eggs can survive winter and are very hard to detect. If laid on a vehicle, for example, an egg mass may just look like a splotch of mud — easy for a traveler to miss. That's how the pest has spread along transportation routes. [4/10]
Given that the spotted lanternfly can easily evade detection, it seems unlikely to stay stateside. “I don’t mean to be alarmist when I say this, but it’s likely not a matter of if — it’s a matter of when,” Ehnes says. That worries Ontario’s farmers. [5/10]
Fraser notes that lanternflies love grapes and the invasive tree of heaven (nature.org/en-us/about-us…) in particular. They can kill both by feeding on them.
“Wineries especially get hit hard. They can be, for lack of a better word, nuked," Ehnes says. [6/10]
“Wineries especially get hit hard. They can be, for lack of a better word, nuked," Ehnes says. [6/10]
Debbie Zimmerman, @grapegrowersont CEO says to stay ahead of the threat, her organization is working with OMAFRA and @InspectionCan to raise awareness about the pest and monitor for it (onfruit.ca/2021/08/20/spo…). [7/10]
So far, officials say, raising public awareness is the best way to prevent a major lanternfly infestation. The ISC and CFIA have produced fact sheets (invasivespeciescentre.ca/wp-content/upl…) and CFIA specialist Christine Villegas says sightings can be reported (inspection.canada.ca/plant-health/p…). [8/10]
Once an invasive species is reported to the CFIA, officers verify the sighting and survey the area to determine next steps, Villegas says — and if lanternflies were to be detected, steps could include implementing control measures, such as the closing of certain areas. [9/10]
Villegas notes that, while certain biological and chemical controls used to kill lanternflies in the U.S. show promise, those products have not yet been approved in Canada. Read more here: tvo.org/article/this-i… and stay tuned for an @TheAgenda segment on this topic/ [10/10]
Here’s that interview with @JeyanTVO on @TheAgenda, produced by @carrletta!
https://twitter.com/theagenda/status/1431339820266278915
Full video here:
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