If You See This Beautiful Bug, Squash It Fast

This is the season to do whatever you can to make sure this insect is nowhere around because it’s starting to find warm, cozy nooks and crannies to settle down for the winter and lay its eggs.

You can spot it all year round but autumn into our cooler winter weather is when they disappear only to procreate and come back stronger in the spring with babies. They’re large flying moth-looking bugs called the spotted lanternfly and according to USA Today, this is an invasive species out of Asia that is all across the country wreaking havoc on our trees and plants from our parks to individual gardens and only getting worse as its population grows.

While it started in the northeastern part of the country and has spread into the midwest and south all states are at risk, especially any state with wine vineyards. The spotted lanternfly can decimate not just grapevines, but destroy other lucrative crops like apples, almonds, walnuts, cherries, hops, and peaches according to USA Today. Sometimes it’s colorful while other times it’s more muted but always has evident brown spots.

According to the Best Life website, don’t feel guilty about smashing this bug. Our ecosystems work because of the delicate balance of the organisms that live in them. So when a non-native species enters the equation, it can have a disastrous effect making that ecosystem vulnerable. The consequence of the spotted lanternfly is in full force slowly invading our country now for nearly 10 years.

While you’re prepping for winter, according to CBS News, scrape off and stomp anything that has sap oozing from the wood, one-inch-long egg masses that are waxy and mud-like, and any massive buildup of black sooty mold on plants or on patio furniture or even your house.