The spotted lanternfly is native to China and has been spotted in the American east coast as early as 2014 but is recently more rapidly spreading (theoretically by people moving due to Covid and unknowingly transporting lanternfly egg masses with them). Local governments are asking citizens to kill and report it to wildlife if they see it as it is a danger to ecosystems outside of Chyyna, India and Vietnam.
I know you’ve never heard of this, because I haven’t, and that means you probably haven’t – so if you’re wondering what this thing is:
Although its called a “fly” and looks like a moth, the spotted lanternfly is a hopping tree bug. It’s considered invasive and dangerous because it deposits “sticky honeydew secretions” that then grow mold that prevents plants from photosynthesizing and causing the plants to die according to USA Today. This makes it dangerous to trees and cash crops, marking it as a threat to orchard, grape, and logging industries.
This “stomp to kill” order is no joke. Watch how local government twitter accounts request you to assassinate these things as it creeps from the far east coast into the midwest:
Then it appeared in a Kansas students entomology entry at a state fair display (the student correctly identified the insect, by the way). One of the fair’s judges was familiar with the insect — and the requirement of reporting it to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Story developing. Godzilla on standby.