The spotted lanternfly has been establishing itself as a genuine pest ever since it showed up in Pennsylvania in 2014.
At first, Robert Butz, one of the owners of Windridge Vineyards in Montgomery County, wasn’t too worried about them.
“I’ve been farming my whole life, and invasive species, they kind of come and go,” he said.
But this bug poses a problem.
“At least for grape farmers, it’s different. It’s a real issue, for sure,” he said.
The problem with the spotted lanternfly, Butz said, is that it likes nectar — especially the kind of nectar that runs through the vines that produce the grapes Windridge Vineyards makes into its wines.
Butz said spotted lanternflies can damage the vines so completely, they can kill the entire plant.
He’s proud to say that Windridge has been cautious in using insecticides.
“One of our vineyards is completely insecticide-free,” he said. “The others, we do spray occasionally for certain targeted pests.”
He said while they’ve had to “unfortunately” increase the use of insecticides to fight spotted lanternflies, he doesn’t believe that’s the solution.
“Honestly, you can’t spray your way out of the problem,” he said.
The crews at Windridge work on interrupting the life cycle of the invasive bugs.
“I had my guys during the winter go out with plumbers’ torches and essentially just burn the egg masses. Other people will scrape them. There’s different techniques,” he said.
Another strategy Butz has employed is isolating his vines far from hedgerows that could serve as resting spots for the lanternflies.
He’s also noticed on his properties that the spotted lanternflies like walnut trees and ailanthus, often known as the Tree of Heaven.
Butz said he leaves the walnuts alone, since they are “a heritage species tree.” But the ailanthus, which is also an invasive species, is another story.
“It’s a pretty easy call — just get rid of it,” he said.
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