How to combat spotted lanternflies? Crushing them isn't the only way.

Frustrated Long Islanders can’t seem to keep up with the pesky spotted lanternflies spreading their bright red wings across properties in the region, but besides furiously trying to stomp them out, there are other ways to keep the bugs at bay, according to experts.

And they’re most evident this summer in Suffolk County, where the plant hopper population has proliferated, according to Brian Eshenaur, senior extension associate, invasive species, at Cornell University's Integrated Pest Management Program. Populations also continue to remain high in Nassau County following a drop in Manhattan after experiencing a surge two years ago, Eshenaur said.

Experts said populations of the insects usually ebb and flow. In Berks County, Pennsylvania, which was the first state in the country to detect the invasive species in 2014, there's been a resurgence after several years of declining populations, according to Julie Urban, research associate professor in the Department of Entomology at Penn State University.  

While the critter does not sting or pose any other threat to people or animals, experts still recommend killing them to prevent them from hitchhiking to areas they still haven’t targeted and to help stop their swarming presence. Now in their adult phase, the invasive lanternfly threatens local agricultural economies, specifically to vineyards on the East End as the bug sucks on the vine sap and could ultimately destroy the grape plant.

"Picture them on a constant conveyor belt. They're constantly, constantly moving, looking for food. So you might have them in your yard only transiently. ... So yes, knock them back when you see them," said Urban.

"That little bit of time that we might buy those growers by not spreading it could make all the difference to their businesses long term," Urban said.

While research is continuing into natural biological control, like the parasitoid wasps, currently there are no local "evolutionary predators," that consume lanternflies, according to Jared Dyer, entomology specialist at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Suffolk County.

So while people will ultimately have to learn to live alongside them, the good news is the lanternfly dies off after the first big frost sometime in late fall in New York. Meanwhile, it's too late to scrape egg masses, but experts shared advice on how to manage the adult insects.

 DIY nonchemical tips:

• Sticky traps around trees with a protective barrier around it to prevent birds and other beneficial insects from getting stuck.
• Funnel or circle traps attached to trees that will trap the insects in a containment zone so they have no escape. "This circle trap is like an inverted funnel. The wide part is at the base, the narrow part is the top, and it funnels them into a bag at the top where they're collected," said Eshenaur. 
• Backpack vacuums — to suck them up. "It's a relatively easy, non chemical way of managing it," said Dyer.

 Penn State Extension resources also shares some potential organic methods that include:

• Neem oil
• Insecticidal soaps, which Urban said are safer to use than homemade concoctions like dish soap and water, which she says are not recommended because beneficial insects can die as well. 
• Certain botanical oils

Cornell Integrated Pest Management at the university's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences maintains a list of insecticides registered safe to use in the state against lanternflies, but Dyer cautioned that each property owner must decide how to best deal with lanternflies. 

"People shouldn’t feel they need to start spraying pesticides everywhere or panic that they will kill all the plants in their yard. They should decide what is appropriate for their specific situation and needs," Dyer said.

By Lorena Mongelli

lorena.mongelli@newsday.com

Lorena Mongelli has been reporting for Newsday since 2021. Prior to that, she covered breaking news at the New York Post.