(Wines&Vines) - The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) confirmed that a new invasive species, the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula), has been found in Berks County, Pa., and the department has issued a quarantine to prevent the pest’s movement to new areas. Five townships (Pike, District, Hereford, Washington and Rockland) and two municipalities (Bally and Bechtelsville) are on the quarantine list. 

The discovery of the spotted lanternfly (SLF) in southeastern Pennsylvania is especially concerning to grapegrowers, because the Vitis species is one of the hosts for the insect. The spotted lanternfly is a planthopper that is native to China, India, Japan and Vietnam. It was introduced into Korea in 2006, and the insects there have attacked 25 plant species that also are found in Pennsylvania. Host plants in eastern Asia include grapes, pines, stone fruits, apples and more than 70 additional species. Dr. Michael Saunders, professor of entomology at the Pennsylvania State University, told Wines & Vines that the pests in Berks County were found on wild grapevines, maple trees, weeping willow trees and Ailanthus altissima (an invasive sumac-like tree commonly known as Tree of Heaven).