The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine will be expanded this month to include the following cities and counties: Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Lynchburg, Manassas, Staunton, Waynesboro, Albemarle, Augusta, Carroll, Page, Prince William, Rockingham, Rockbridge, Shenandoah, and Wythe. This is in addition to the quarantine already in place for Frederick, Warren, and Clarke Counties and the City of Winchester.
A quarantine over an area found to have spotted lanternfly means that any material or object that could harbor the pest cannot be moved without taking precautions to prevent that spread.
A potentially very serious pest of grapes, peaches, hops, and a variety of other crops, the spotted lanternfly (SLF), Lycorma delicatula, was detected in Frederick County on Jan. 10, 2018. It is important to look for it and report any finds.
The spotted lanternfly has also been reported on a range of ornamentals around the home and in the landscape; in high numbers, the insect can become a nuisance pest to homeowners.
If needed, SLF on plants can be controlled with labeled insecticides. Confirm that you have SLF before applying insecticides. See Identification and Life Cycle of Spotted Lanternfly in Virginia. Treat when the immature stages of SLF are active during the months of May-July. Carbaryl, bifenthrin, and pyrethrins are effective contact pesticides for controlling SLF. Destroy any egg masses you find.
There are no restrictions on the movement of materials originating outside the quarantine area, but you should be aware of SLF and report insects you suspect are SLF. To learn how to identify SLF, visit Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Spotted Lanternfly In Virginia website (https://ext.vt.edu/agriculture/commercial-horticulture/spotted-lanternfly.html). If you think that you have found a SLF, you can take a specimen to your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office for confirmation. Your reports help Cooperative Extension track the spread of SLF in Virginia.
