Hello, everyone,
Late this afternoon, VDACS announced the establishment of a quarantine for spotted lanternfly, the invasive pest insect that was found in Winchester in January 2018. Despite an eradication effort in 2018, SLF increased its distribution from about 1 square mile to 16 square miles. This year, the overwintering eggs began their hatch on April 27, earlier than last spring. They are now in the second instar, or second nymphal stage. The photos show nymphs feeding on poison ivy at about this time last year, and a collection of all four nymphal instars (second instar is second from the left).
The press release on the SLF quarantine linked here. A direct link to the quarantine document is linked here as well. Some of the key provision of the quarantine are:
1) Regulated articles (plants, outdoor industrial materials, shipping containers, outdoor household articles, and others) may be moved from the quarantine area if they have been inspected, and are accompanied by a permit;
2) Regulated articles may be moved within the quarantine area following an inspection; a certificate is not required.
3) From April 1-Dec 31, regulated articles may be moved through the regulated are without stopping, or stopping only for fuel or traffic conditions.
4) To obtain a permit to move regulated articles, a person doing business must complete a VDACS-approved training (see below) and agree to train employees on identification of SLF.
The training needed to obtain a SLF permit is available online. There is a $6.00 fee.
I'll be posting more on this later.
Doug
Late this afternoon, VDACS announced the establishment of a quarantine for spotted lanternfly, the invasive pest insect that was found in Winchester in January 2018. Despite an eradication effort in 2018, SLF increased its distribution from about 1 square mile to 16 square miles. This year, the overwintering eggs began their hatch on April 27, earlier than last spring. They are now in the second instar, or second nymphal stage. The photos show nymphs feeding on poison ivy at about this time last year, and a collection of all four nymphal instars (second instar is second from the left).
The press release on the SLF quarantine linked here. A direct link to the quarantine document is linked here as well. Some of the key provision of the quarantine are:
1) Regulated articles (plants, outdoor industrial materials, shipping containers, outdoor household articles, and others) may be moved from the quarantine area if they have been inspected, and are accompanied by a permit;
2) Regulated articles may be moved within the quarantine area following an inspection; a certificate is not required.
3) From April 1-Dec 31, regulated articles may be moved through the regulated are without stopping, or stopping only for fuel or traffic conditions.
4) To obtain a permit to move regulated articles, a person doing business must complete a VDACS-approved training (see below) and agree to train employees on identification of SLF.
The training needed to obtain a SLF permit is available online. There is a $6.00 fee.
I'll be posting more on this later.
Doug
