“happened once in 2017.” Leach tells the story of a “New Jersey woman who came to Pennsylvania to buy a Christmas tree; she brought it back to New Jersey, and kept it inside her house. She had six nymphs hatch out in the winter.” The woman reported the six bugs, and the media ran with it. With no food source indoors, the nymphs “hatch and die.” They don’t feed on the pine tree that they came in on, and they definitely don’t have any interest in pets, children, or Christmas gifts. The Penn State Extension states on their website that “although unlikely that Spotted Lanternfly eggs will be on Christmas trees, if they were to hatch indoors the nymphs pose no threat to humans or animals, and will die quickly.” The bigger issue, Leach says, is “that most people aren’t going to leave their tree inside for two and a half months like this person did. Most people are going to dispose of their tree in their backyard, and if those eggs haven’t hatched yet, and you took it outside of the quarantine zone, then you could spread the population.” Literature about Illustrations by Kelly Franklin
the Spotted Lanternfly from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture states that “the Spotted Lanternfly overwinters in egg masses laid on smooth bark, stone, and other flat surfaces. The first of four immature stages, or instars, beg[ins] emerging from the egg masses in mid-May.” The real threat lies in discarding a tree outside of the quarantine zone. If an egg mass is overlooked, then an individual tree could be responsible for spreading a population of Spotted Lanternfly into a new territory. But the issue for growers isn’t just in the ability to sell trees to local patrons. The overwhelming media coverage, combined with the quarantine (first instated in 2014) has Christmas tree buyers from across state lines spooked, and has made out of state sales nearly impossible. “There’s a lot of Pennsylvania Christmas tree growers who ship their Christmas trees out of state for other people, and they’ve had issues with being stopped at the border; the inspections taking a long time, and then they can’t sell their Christmas Trees on time,” says Leach.
The process becomes so time consuming, that “once they finally do get approved to be sold, it’s too late.” Although Leach applauds the caution that other states are using in dealing with items coming from the quarantined zone, she acknowledges that “there’s certainly implications, and some people that are having losses because of it.” “Even though these nursery operations are certified - they have the Spotted Lanternfly permit, and they’re really doing everything they can to inspect, and make sure they don’t have lanternfly - they have lost outstanding numbers of customers,” says Leach. Between the losses of customers in-state due to exaggerated media coverage, and the losses out of state as a result of strict quarantine practices, Christmas tree growers could use some positive publicity to help restore their reputation, and replace missing markets. Thankfully the team at the Penn State Extension is prepared to spread some holiday cheer. Leach feels “really confident” about the ability of Christmas tree growers in dealing with
the Spotted Lanternfly. “They have a really great association. They can get the information out to the growers really quickly, so they now have standard protocol for treating for Spotted Lanternfly, and inspecting their trees for Spotted Lanternfly.” The Penn State Extension advises those who are still concerned about buying a real Christmas tree to “inspect the tree prior to purchase. Spotted lanternfly egg masses are visible on the bark if present, and can be easily removed.” Both the Penn State Extension, and the Pennsylvania Christmas Tree Growers Association are working hard to combat exaggerated headlines, and provide accurate information about real threats posed by the Spotted Lanternfly. This season many people will purchase real Christmas trees from growers across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and few if any will find signs of the Spotted Lanternfly. But how many others will read the hyped up headlines, and forgo the smell of a beautiful blue spruce in favor of a plastic alternative? For the sake of the growers, hopefully very few.
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