Lanternfly Trapping Study

Bloomberg Philanthropies Youth Climate Action Fund Micro-Grant Report for Lanternfly TrapForce

A Project by Tobias Navarrete and Marcus Galland

This past year we were introduced to the Bloomberg Philanthropies Youth Climate Action Fund in our science classes. We applied for a microgrant to place Spotted Lantern Fly (SLF) traps in all the parks in Hastings. The SLF damages the ecosystem by producing large amounts of a honeydew-like liquid that causes the growth of a black mold, which kills plants, in addition to eating plant leaves. So it's vital to preserve our parks by capturing as many SLF as possible. Removing the SLF from our parks improves the overall ecosystem by stopping trees and other plant life from dying. 

The SLF first arrived in the United States in 2012 off of a cargo shipment from China. Settling originally in southeastern Pennsylvania, the fly spread north and reached New York in 2020. The SLF does not stay in one place: it has the tendency to move across large distances by laying eggs on shipping material, stone, railroad cars, and even vehicles. This is called human mediated dispersal. Since the SLF can't fly—it is technically a leafhopper—it expands its range by piggybacking on humans activity, essentially using us as their vehicles. This would explain why we found an infestation right next to our Village MetroNorth station. 

The SLF's preferred food is the tree of heaven, which is an species. When we were looking for places to put our traps, we therefore searched for tree of heaven. All of our trap locations contained at least one tree of heaven, if not clusters of them. 

We placed traps in four separate locations across Hastings: Draper park, Zinsser field, the waterfront, and Hillside Woods. The traps were set up using a drywall screw, a drill, and a rubber band. We collected over 1,000 SLF and significantly decreased the number of SLF in Hastings. This allows for numerous plants to survive and allows the trees getting covered by black mold a second chance at life.

Impact

Most of our trap sites showed a decrease in the numbers of SLF over the summer and into October. Our site that showed the largest decrease was Hillside Woods. Here is a two-month difference (before and after pictures are from our Hillside site). In the second set, that one trap has around 400 SLF inside it.

Some photos illustrating the negative effects of SLF

Process

1. Identify the tree of heaven 

   1. Small indent at the base of the leave 

   2. Each leaf comprises 10 to 40 lance-shaped leaflets with smooth edges

   3. Bark is light brown to gray,  rough, texture similar to a cantaloupe skin

2. Scan branches for an SLF infestation 

   1. They like to cluster, especially in the early stages of development

   2. As they grow into adults, they are much harder to spot, because their wings blend into the bark of trees

3. Take pictures of the molded ground at the base of the tree

   1. In the presence of SLF, most of the ground at the base of a tree will be black 

   2. If a recent infestation, tree and/or shrub leaves will be droopy and contain reflective spots where the honeydew recently landed 

   3. In some cases, the buildup of excess mold and honeydew turns white and foamy 

4. Place a trap at breast height (five feet) 

   1. We used a drywall screw in the long leg of the trap

   2. We staple gunned the mesh around the tree 

   3. Then we screwed in the trap container

5. Put up a sign to inform people about the dangers of the SLF

   1. Staple gunned to the tree 

   2. Included a picture of black mold and the SLF