'Squash Every Bug': PA Expands Spotted Lanternfly Alert

PENNSYLVANIA — Eight counties have been added to Pennsylvania's spotted lanternfly quarantine zone ahead of this year's spring hatch. Thirty-four of the state's 67 counties now are in such zones, the state Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday.

The eight counties - Cambria, Cameron, Franklin, Lackawanna, Montour, Pike, Wayne and Westmoreland - already have a few municipalities with a known infestation.

"The spotted lanternfly is more than a pest in the literal sense," state Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said in a new release.

"Whether you think it's your job or not, we need every Pennsylvanian to keep their eyes peeled for signs of this bad bug – to scrape every egg mass, squash every bug, and report every sighting. We need to unite in our hatred for this pest for our common love: Pennsylvania."

The spotted lanternfly is native to China and was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, spotted lanternfly feeds on a wide range of fruit, ornamental and woody trees, with tree-of-heaven being one of the preferred hosts.

Spotted lanternflies are invasive and can be spread long distances by people who move infested material or items containing egg masses. Federal and state agriculture officials have warned that if the lanternfiles are allowed to spread in the United States, the pest could seriously impact the country’s grape, orchard, and logging industries.

Here's where the lanternfly quarantine is in effect this year: