MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
So, Leila, you've heard of spotted lanternflies? These bugs with spots on their wings? They got a big splash of red on one pair of wings and bright yellow stripes down the side of their body. Have you seen any lately?
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Unfortunately, yes. They're an invasive species, and they've invaded my back deck. And I heard you're supposed to squash them when you see them, so let's just say it's a spotted lanternfly crime scene back there right now.
MARTIN: You know, I support this. It's your deck.
FADEL: (Laughter).
MARTIN: No uninvited visitors. OK.
But let's go to an expert. Michael Raupp is professor emeritus of entomology at the University of Maryland. He says lanternflies are definitely invasive. They're native to China and parts of Vietnam, but they're now in 18 states and Washington, D.C.
MICHAEL RAUPP: These guys are really, really good hitchhikers.
MARTIN: And he says that's why smashing them under your heel, unfortunately, won't do much.
RAUPP: I know people feel like they want to do something, and certainly, that is something that people can do. Will it change the population dynamics of this particular invasive species? That's highly, highly unlikely.
FADEL: Oh, man. I thought I was helping.
Raupp says it's better to focus on getting rid of their main food source, which is another invasive species - the tree of heaven. It's also known as the stink tree for its strong odor. The tree was brought to the United States from China in the late 1700s, and it mainly grows in humid climates.
RAUPP: Try to get rid of tree of heaven. That's a key resource for reproduction and feeding of the adults.
MARTIN: So what's so bad about these little spotted plant hoppers? Raupp says they excrete a sticky waste product that damages plants.
RAUPP: What we soon learned - that it was a killer of grapevine. So the biggest economic impact is in vineyards, where it can actually kill grapevines.
FADEL: But Raupp says nature is also doing its part.
RAUPP: We have more than a thousand observations now of things like spiders, praying mantises, assassin bugs. There are more than 20 species of birds now that have been noted to feast on spotted lanternfly.
MARTIN: Assassin bugs. OK. Raupp, who runs a blog called The Bug Guy, says we should also accept that lanternflies will be very hard to get rid of totally.
RAUPP: The spotted lanternflies are going to be here to stay, but I'm betting on Mother Nature. I think she's going to help us find a way to lower those populations so we can learn to kind of live and let live with the spotted lanternfly.
MARTIN: I don't get the sense that that's in your agenda.
FADEL: Mother Nature, help.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF TOBY FOX'S "LANTERN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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