Clarke County, VA
Home MenuSpotted Lanternfly & Other Invasive Species
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) encourages all residents and business owners to learn more about invasive pests and plants. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also maintains a National Invasive Species Information Center.
The Virginia Cooperative Extension has a website dedicated to Spotted Lanternfly identification.
Because the invasive, destructive Spotted Lanternfly is well established in Clarke County, it is included in the Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine area of more than a dozen counties and cities in the Shenandoah Valley. Quarantine requires businesses that ship materials from quarantined areas to obtain Spotted Lanternfly Permits if their shipments are going to un-infested areas. Businesses must complete training and submit training credentials and completed SLF Permit Applications to spottedlanternfly@vdacs.virginia.gov.
It is no longer necessary to report Spotted Lanternfly. Clarke, Frederick, and Warren counties and the City of Winchester are now infested with Spotted Lanternfly. VDACS, the USDA, and the Virginia Cooperative Extension (a partnership of Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, and USDA) are no longer asking residents to report sightings.
Learn how to manage the destructive insect throughout all its life stages using this comprehensive Spotted Lanternfly Management Guide.
The first Spotted Lanternfly in the United States was recorded in 2014 in Pennsylvania. The invasive and destructive insect soon made its way to other states, reaching Frederick County, Virginia, in February 2018. A short time later, it hopped over the Opequon Creek into western Clarke County.
The SLF lays its egg masses on surfaces such as stone, metal (including cars and trucks), and tree trunks. Nymphs emerge in late spring and change in appearance until the fall, when fully grown adults begin laying eggs before winter. While the SLF prefers to feed on Tree of Heaven, also called ailanthus tree, it will feed on more than 100 types of plants, including grapes, peaches, hops, and a variety of other crops. The SLF has been seen on a range of ornamentals, too.
The Spotted Lanternfly changes appearance quite a bit between egg mass and nymph and nymph to mature adult. Nymphs are black and white before becoming red, black and white. The adults have multi-colored wings, but are poor fliers. They are considered plant hoppers.
The insects are also hitchhikers, traveling on anything they can, including cars, trucks, and trains, which is why VDACS created the Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine. Spotted Lanternfly quarantine programs currently exist in a number of states, including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.