4 ms·
I'm in Pittsburgh, and they are everywhere. Have you ever seen a place overrun during a cicada emergence? There's about that many. Every time I take a half-hour
by theandrewbailey 3y ago
I'm in Pittsburgh, and they are everywhere. Have you ever seen a place overrun during a cicada emergence? There's about that many. Every time I take a half-hour walk around the neighborhood, I kill at least 10, sometimes 50 or so. I've noticed that they like dark things/places and humming noises, like power poles with transformers on top and rail stations.
My strategy: approach them from their front and stomp on them. They like to jump forward, so coming at them from any other direction is less successful.
I figured that I would find one inside my house at some point, and found a dead one under the dining room table a month ago.
- titzer 3y agoIn Pittsburgh too. For some reason the back entrance to my building (TCS hall) is a mecca for these little pests--to the point that a brick wall was literally covered in thousands of them. I ninja-side-kicked said wall and hit nothing but lantern fly. I must have killed almost a hundred with just a couple kicks. Crazy. Clearly natural selection is at work because the left over ones are getting pretty good at jumping out of the way of a stomp.
- dgacmu 3y agoThe railroad right of way that passes nearly under TCS is packed with the lanternflies favorite host species, ailanthus (tree of heaven). There's a large band of them running all the way from the river up panther hollow to Carnegie Mellon. It's a perfect breeding ground for the lanternflies. (The gates building is covered in them too.)
- pfdietz 3y agoI'm hoping the Tree of Heaven will be controlled. They've found a pathogen (Verticillium nonalfalfae) in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Austria that seems highly effective at controlling it. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341196404_Field-inoculated_Ailanthus_altissima_stands_reveal_the_biological_control_potential_of_Verticillium_nonalfalfae_in_the_mid-Atlantic_region_of_the_United_States https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341196404_Field-ino... https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12600-022-01032-z https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12600-022-01032-z
- sestep 3y agoThey may be getting better, but they're still pretty stupid. Also if you decide not to stomp one and instead pick it up by its wings, it just instantly gives up and stops moving. I got too tempted one time and ended up eating one.
- nickpeterson 3y agoWhat?!
- salad-tycoon 3y agoUnexpected twist. Suspense of belief.
- sestep 3y agohttps://youtube.com/shorts/R-r3x8scCdI https://youtube.com/shorts/R-r3x8scCdI
- titzer 3y agoWell, what did it taste like?
- sestep 3y agoIt tasted bad.
- LgWoodenBadger 3y agoFrom experience, they only have enough energy for a jump or two, if you happen to miss them the first time. After that they’re spent.
- ok_computer 3y agoIn eastern PA: * <= 2019 : awareness but didn’t see many * 2020 : population explosion * 2021 : not as many * 2022 : bounces back, these might be a problem. I bought green tape in 2021 but never wrapped my trees * 2023 : rare sightings There is a penn state study saying the fly may not be as damaging as expected. https://old.reddit.com/r/philadelphia/comments/16it7q7/penn_state_study_says_spotted_lanternflies_dont/ https://old.reddit.com/r/philadelphia/comments/16it7q7/penn_... Maybe birds are eating them or they kill all the bad trees. Life finds a way.
- sixothree 3y agoMaybe a laser welding robot with some nice object recognition would be a great way to get rid of these.
- chiefalchemist 3y agoInteresting. I usual try to sneak up on them from behind as they see / sense when I didn't. They're quick but don't seem to have stamina. That is, first stomp might miss. Second stomp might sometimes misses as well. But by the third the battle is over. I win.
- hnrodey 3y agoI’m near the airport and these things are everywhere at my house. My patio is covered in both LF and SB. I’ve been killing then with my salt rifle (Amazon) and getting them with the shop vac.