<p style="font-weight: 400;">States in the eastern region of the United States are plagued by spotted lanternflies, which came from China and could cost the nation dearly as their infestation targets agricultural staples such as apples and grapes and spell trouble for loggers.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">States already in danger include Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia. The first report of a lanternfly in the U.S. was made in Pennsylvania in 2014.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Dan Kenny of the Department of Agriculture of Ohio, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11208917/How-fighting-plague-lanternflies-states-spend-HUNDREDS-MILLIONS.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a><span class="skimlinks-unlinked"> that the insect “</span>is sneaky. It moves around on products, cars and even rail cars. There is just so much opportunity for it to spread naturally or hitchhike.”</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“We’ve seen it in hops, we’ve seen it in some of the grain crops that are out there, soybean and what have you,” Pennsylvania’s deputy secretary of agriculture <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/science/lanternflies-pennsylvania-crops.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in 2018. “It’s able to feed on many, many different things.”</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s not just an agriculture problem, this is truly an across-the-board commerce problem, because we are trying not to move it,” he added. “This is everyday people, this is the trucking company, the U.P.S. driver, the delivery guy.”</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The flies emerge in late April until October; any surviving insects freeze to death in the winter. They feed mainly on Ailanthus, the “tree of heaven.”</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The lanternfly eats over 70 types of fruits, trees and plants. A 2019 study <a href="https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Plants_Land_Water/PlantIndustry/Entomology/spotted_lanternfly/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asserted</a> that the insect could cost Pennsylvania $324 million annually and over 2,800 jobs.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Maryland’s Department of Agriculture <a href="https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/spotted-lantern-fly.aspx">lists</a> plants including grapes, black walnut, red maple, silver maple, eastern white pine, weeping willow, black willow, black cherry, sycamore as targets of the lanternfly. Meanwhile multiple counties in New York have reported seeing the insect, which presents a major problem, as its wine and grape industry engenders $6.65 billion annually along with 71,000 jobs.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection <a href="https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Forestry/Forest-Protection/Spotted-Lanternfly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> 47% of all forest trees in their state might be under siege from the insect.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“The speed that these things can attack a grape vineyard is pretty dramatic,” Jayson Harper, professor of agricultural economics at Penn State, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spotted-lanternfly-homeowners-extermination-cost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained.</a> “The problem with grapes are they are very expensive to establish, and you think they will grow for twenty, thirty, forty years. It&#8217;s not like corn where, ‘I had a bad crop this year, but I&#8217;ll plant again next year.’”</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">An <a href="https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/b0bae43d-c65f-4f88-bc9a-323f3189cd35/page/QUCkC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interactive map</a> from New York State Integrated Management that was supplied by state regulatory agencies shows the affected counties across the nation.</p>

<script async src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script><div data-widget-host="revcontent" data-pub-id="165152" data-widget-id="290588"></div><script src="https://delivery.revcontent.com/165152/290588/widget.js"></script>

‘Sneaky’: Spotted Lanternfly Spreading, Threatens Crops Across U.S.

CONTINUE READING

Purple Heart Hero Levels Radical Dem Who Mocked His War Wounds

NHL Icon Claude Lemieux Dead At 60 After Apparent Suicide

Bari Weiss Is Remaking CBS News And The Left Is Panicking

Iran Hired Americans To Assassinate Famed Dissident. One Just Got Sentenced.

Socialist Mayor Orders Police Union To Scrub Post That Called Her Out

Missouri Supreme Court Hands GOP Another Victory

News

Agriculture

Insects

A video goes viral showing a baby being refused his mother by two gay "dads". This is just the tip of the iceberg, which is why we will have an important discussion today about surrogacy. 

Hour 1

The Matt Walsh Show

Ep. 1765 - This Video Is One Of The Worst Things I've Seen In A Long Time 

The Strait of Hormuz officially opens for business (kind of), the Pope makes “shocking” comments on immigration, and President Trump promises UFO disclosure at TPUSA. 


The Michael Knowles Show

Ep. 1956 -  Pope Leo's "SHOCKING" Immigration Comments EXPLAINED

A false miscreed has corrupted our leadership class.


The Andrew Klavan Show

Ep. 1275 - Dumb, Dumber and Progressive

President Trump announces a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, a murder-suicide involving former Democratic Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax shakes Virginia, and France and Britain hold a conference to secure the Strait of Hormuz – after the Iranian conflict ends. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.

- - -

Ep. 2738

- - -

Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3

- - -

Today's Sponsors:

Alliance Defending Freedom - Visit https://JoinADF.com/WIRE or text 'WIRE' to 83848 to learn more.

Pocket Hose - Text MORNING to 64000 to get a FREE pocket pivot and their 10-pattern sprayer with the purchase of ANY size Copper Head hose. Message and data rates may apply.

Morning Wire

U.S. Expands Hormuz Blockade & VA Fairfax Deaths Investigated | 4.17.26

U.S. Expands Hormuz Blockade & VA Fairfax Deaths Investigated | 4.17.26 [Member Exclusive]

A ceasefire goes into effect between Israel and Lebanon, a tragic murder-suicide rocks Virginia, and Dairy Queen deploys AI in the drive-thru. Get the facts first with Evening Wire.
- - -
Ep. 2737
- - -
Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3 
- - -
Today’s Sponsor:

Alliance Defending Freedom - Visit https://JoinADF.com/WIRE or text “WIRE” to 83848 to learn more.


Menu

— News —

‘Sneaky’: Spotted Lanternfly Spreading, Threatens Crops Across U.S.