The Dreaded Lanternbug, Scourge of Agriculture, Spreads in New Jersey

On Aug. 17, a banner floated in the blue sky above Ocean Grove, N.J., with a call to arms: “JOIN THE BATTLE — BEAT THE BUG.” A large picture showed an insect with crimson and Dalmatian-spotted wings outspread. The spotted lanternfly, New England’s pest à la mode, was back.

A week earlier, officials from New Jersey’s Department of Agriculture placed eight counties under quarantine, asking anyone traveling through Warren, Hunterdon, Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem or Somerset to thoroughly check their vehicles for any sign of the hitchhiking bugs. “If you are able to eliminate the Spotted Lanternfly, please do so,” the department asks on its website.

New Jersey has been tracking and treating the inch-long pest since it appeared in the summer of 2018, but this year’s population has spread into the state’s western counties along the Delaware River, according to the agriculture department.

The spotted lanternfly is a known menace elsewhere in the Northeast. Native to parts of Asia, it was first observed in 2014 in Berks County, Pa. Since then, the lanternfly has spread in fluttering hordes to Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, drawn to the region’s ample population of the tree of heaven, an invasive tree from China and the lanternfly’s primary food.