Spotted lanternfly in Virginia - watching for a new pest!

Hello, everybody,

At our 2018 winter grower meetings, there was discussion of a new invasive species, spotted lanternfly (SLF).  The fulgorid hopper was introduced into Pennsylvania in 2014, and has been expanding its range since.  In 2017, SLF became a multi-state problem, since it was found in single counties in each of three additional states: Delaware, New York and Virginia (viable egg masses and dead adults were found in January 2018 at a Winchester site, including trees along a railway).  One tree in particular, tree of heaven, is linked to the life cycle of SLF, but it will feed on about 70 other host plants.  These plants include several that are of great economic importance to us, and SLF is a likely important pest in vineyards, orchards and forestry.  In Pennsylvania, it has been a major nuisance in commercial fruit operations, and domestic settings, with their massive feeding aggregations and accumulating sticky honeydew deposits.

SLF overwinters in the egg stage.  The appearance is variable; eggs are sometimes covered with a gray waxy covering, sometimes this covering is only partial, and sometimes the eggs are completely naked.

We have posted further information on SLF, linked here:

Virginia Cooperative Extension web page:

https://ext.vt.edu/agriculture/commercial-horticulture/spotted-lanternfly.html

Spotted lanternfly fact sheet (Virginia Tech):

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/ENTO/ENTO-180/ENTO-180.html

Spotted lanternfly fact sheet (Spanish; USDA):

http://www.virginiafruit.ento.vt.edu/alert-spotted-lanternfly-sp.pdf

VERY IMPORTANT: A web site to report suspected finds of SLF, including uploading of digital photos (public reports will be very helpful in helping us understand the distribution of SLF as its range expands!).:

https://ask.extension.org/groups/1981/ask

I’ll be posting developments on this pest here as they develop.

More later!

Doug

2018 Spray Bulletin for Commercial Tree Fruit Growers

The updated Spray Bulletin for Commercial Tree Fruit Growers is now available.  The PDF version can  be reached here: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/456/456-419/456-419.pdf
Links for ordering hard copies are posted in the Virginia Fruit web site (http://www.virginiafruit.ento.vt.edu/).  The price for a paper guide is unchanged from last year - $17.00.  PDF copies can be downloaded at no charge. Click on the link for the VCE storefront to order a copy! (https://apps.cals.vt.edu/flex/SprayBulletinVegGuideOrdering/SprayBulletinVegGuideOrdering.html)

2018 Tree Fruit Schools
Every February, Virginia Tech/Virginia Cooperative Extenstion organizes a week of orchard fruit schools.  Fruit specialists (horticulture, entomology, plant pathology) deliver information that will be helpful to growers in the coming season.  The dates and links to agendas are provided below.
 
The Patrick-Carroll school will be held on Monday, Feb 12.  The Botetourt-Roanoke school will be held on the morning of Wednesday, Feb 13, starting at 8:00 AM. A recently added fruit school, the Southside school in the lineup again this year, and will be held on the morning of Feb 14.  The Nelson-Albemarle (Central Virginia) school  will be held in the late afternoon-evening of that Wednesday, Feb 14, starting at 3:00 PM.  The Madison-Rappahannock school will beheld on Thursday, Feb 15, and the Winchester school will be held on Friday, Feb 16.  Additional details on the agendas will be posted when available