Charleston, W.Va. —Kanawha County has now been added to the list of West Virginia counties where the invasive pest spotted lanternfly (SLF) has been detected. 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 (USDA-APHIS) 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 WVDA is working closely with USDA-APHIS to identify and treat areas where spotted lanternfly is found,” stressed West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt. “However, with no known native predators, spotted lanternfly will continue to spread across our state, impacting agriculture industries and private property. We hope a more robust federal effort to contain and slow the spread of these insects will be initiated soon.”
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 (Ailanthus altissima), 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,” according to 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: https://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.
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials who sits on the Board of Public Works.
