CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kanawha County has now been added to the list of West Virginia counties where the invasive pest spotted lanternfly has been detected, the West Virginia Department of Agriculture announced July 21. An infestation of SLF was detected in St. Albans near the intersection of W. Main Street and Strawberry Road.
The United States Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the finding. Kanawha is the 22nd county in West Virginia where SLF have been detected. The other counties include Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hardy, Hampshire, Mineral, Grant, Pendleton, Preston, Marion, Taylor, Harrison, Monongalia, Wetzel, Marshall, Ohio, Brooke, Hancock, Wood, McDowell and Mercer.
The SLF is an invasive plant hopper that is native to China and arrived in North America hidden on goods imported from Asia. Juvenile SLF, known as nymphs, and adults prefer to feed on the invasive tree known as tree-of-heaven, but also feed on a wide range of crops and plants, including grapes, apples, hops, walnuts and hardwood trees.
“There has been some success treating infested areas with insecticide. Removing tree-of-heaven from your property is another step to take to slow the spread,” said WVDA SLF Program Coordinator James Watson. “We are also encouraging landowners who see SLF in counties not known to have an infestation, to report any sightings to bugbusters@wvda.us. It is important that we track their movement. We rely heavily on the public to aid us in this effort.”
Spotted lanternfly can travel short distances on their own, but their main mode of movement is hitchhiking. Those who travel to an area with SLF are asked to carefully inspect their vehicles, trailers, boats, ATVs and any other surfaces for hitchhikers before they head home.
For more information on spotted lanternfly, visit our website at: agriculture.wv.gov/divisions/plant-industries/spotted-lanternfly/. To report a SLF sighting, send a photo, your location and contact information to bugbusters@wvda.us.
