Oberlander to host seminar on ticks, spotted lanternfly

From staff reports

State Rep. Donna Oberlander, R-63rd District, will conduct a seminar with Penn State Extension experts on the dangers of ticks and tick-borne diseases on Thursday, March 21, at 6 p.m. at Trinity Point Church of God, 180 West Trinity Drive, Clarion.

The seminar will also include a presentation on the spotted lanternfly, an inch-long black-, red- and white-spotted pest that is native to China, India, Japan and Vietnam. It has since spread throughout 13 counties in southeastern Pennsylvania, which the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has designated as a spotted lanternfly quarantine zone.

“Although we haven’t spotted this damaging insect here yet, anyone traveling to any one of the affected areas in the quarantine – mainly in the southeastern part of the state – should be aware of what they could track back,” Oberlander said.

The insect primarily attacks grapes, apples, pines and stone fruits, according to a news release from Oberlander’s office. Adults often cluster in groups and lay egg masses containing 30-50 eggs that adhere to flat surfaces, including tree bark.

Freshly laid egg masses have a gray, waxy mud-like coating, while hatched eggs appear as brownish seed-like deposits in four to seven columns about an inch long.

Trees attacked by the Spotted Lanternfly will show a grey or black trail of sap down the trunk.