About four years ago, we were introduced to a new plague: the spotted lanternfly. The insect had, we were told, invaded New York City from China, after stowing away as egg masses on a 2012 stone shipment. They were going to do untold levels of destruction to our trees. By August 2022, the state and city urged New Yorkers to squish them on sight. Every adult and child was asked to do their part by judiciously murdering every red-and-black spotted beast on their path.
During the last few summers, it felt like we were waging a losing battle. The gray-winged planthoppers would batter at my windows, some miraculously making it into the house despite my steadfast commitment to allowing zero entry points (also mosquito-related). Outside, hundreds—nay thousands—of nymphs clung to the underside of the vine that climbed across my building, the bugs dripping with a sticky residue that gave me the heebie-jeebies.
But where are they now? This year, I noticed their stark absence: No sticky nymphs, no uninvited guests, no squished wings on the pavement. On Reddit boards, similar sentiments. Did we defeat the dreaded lanternfly?
Gil Bloom, an entomologist at Standard Pest Management, confirmed my observations: "There's definitely less this year," he told Hell Gate Tuesday. "They're not gone, but there is definitely a quantitative lower number."