Techniques resulting from the Proactive IPM Solutions Program in advance of anticipated pest invasions will allow for rapid deployment of future management plans.įunding for the three-year project to develop biological controls for SLF stems from the pest’s potential to economically impact high value specialty crops including almonds, walnuts and pistachios. CDFA is responsible for preventing and mitigating invasive pests in California. A goal of the CDFA’s Proactive IPM Solutions grant program is to anticipate which exotic pests are likely to arrive in California and to identify and test IPM strategies, including biological control, that can be rapidly implemented if the pests become established in California. Hoddle said that rather than wait to see if SLF will become established in the west, proactive efforts in biological control have already begun. It is believed they flew into the planes during loading activities in Allentown, PA. Last year, California Department of Food and Agriculture inspectors looking for Japanese beetles in cargo planes reported that dead spotted lantern flies had been found at airports in Sacramento, Stockton and Ontario. Spotted lantern fly was first detected in the United States in Pennsylvania in 2014. Mark Hoddle said there is reason to believe SLF feeding has the potential to impact tree nut crops in California.Īccording to invasion biology specialists, the SLF is likely to make its way from the east coast to California. University of California Riverside researcher Dr. There is evidence in South Korea that it can attack walnut crops. Spotted lantern fly has become established in several east coast areas and has been proven a threat to apples, cherry and grape crops as well as hardwood trees. This pest insect from China has not yet become established in California, but it has been known to arrive here as a hitchhiker on aircraft.
The spotted lantern fly is joining the list of invasive insects that have the potential to impact California agricultural crops.
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