Dreaded crop-destroying spotted lanternfly sighted in Ontario
Catherine Archer near the football field at Holy Names Catholic High School in south Windsor, where she saw and killed a spotted lanternfly specimen. (Dalson Chen via CBC News)
The moment the colourful bug landed in front of her, south Windsor resident Catherine Archer knew its species — and the threat that it posed.
That's why she immediately stepped on it.
The offending insect was a spotted lanternfly: An invasive species that can have a devastating impact on agriculture — especially grapevines and fruit trees.
"It's beautiful. It's an absolutely gorgeous bug. It has bright red inside and the wings really do look like a spotted lantern," Archer told CBC Windsor.
"But it's an extremely invasive species... I'd seen a Michigan news report about these spotted lanternflies. They said to stomp it, take a picture and report it."
The State of Michigan has been concerned about the spotted lanternfly since 2018. At this point, it's been detected throughout the southeastern areas of the state — to the dismay of vineyard and orchard owners.
But Archer's encounter with the spotted lanternfly is one of its first sightings in southwestern Ontario. Previous incidents have been limited to Hamilton and the Niagara region.
"I think awareness is going to be key. I think if people know about it, we might stand a chance," Archer said. "This is one that can do a lot of damage."
Invasive Species Centre: A group of spotted lanternflies on a tree. (Invasive Species Centre via CBC News)
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Archer noticed the bug while she was attending her grandson's football game on the grounds of Holy Names Catholic High School.
About two weeks earlier, another Windsor resident — Cassandra Meanney — saw and killed a suspected specimen in Windsor's Devonshire Heights area, near the Fogolar Furlan Club.
Archer and Meanney both sent photos of the bugs they killed to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
CBC has seen Archer's correspondence with the CFIA, which confirmed her photo shows a spotted lanternfly.
"I guess in Canada, they want you to collect it," Archer said. "They feel the female that I stomped was egg-bearing, because the goop around it looked like eggs."
The remains of a spotted lanternfly killed by Cassandra Meanny in Windsor's Devonshire Heights area. (Cassandra Meanny via CBC News)
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A Facebook post by Archer about her discovery has been shared more than 2,000 times.
Nicole Mielewczyk, a survey biologist with the CFIA, said an investigation was conducted for 200 metres around where Archer saw her spotted lanternfly last week.
No other specimens were found, dead or alive. No egg masses were found, either.
To date, CFIA hasn't detected any established spotted lanternfly populations in Canada.
But Mielewczyk said the CFIA continues to encourage the public to be on the lookout for the insect. Windsor-Essex is considered a region at high risk for the spotted lanternfly to gain a foothold in the country.
"Windsor-Essex does have a lot of fruit production, but it's also very close to a known infestation — in Oakland County, in Michigan," Mielewczyk said. "There's a lot of traffic that comes through the borders in the Windsor-Essex area."
Canada's Invasive Species Centre considers spotted lanternflies "a serious threat to Canada's wine and agricultural industries." Grape, apple, and peaches are just a few of the crops that can be ruined by the insect's spread.
Known to be voracious sap eaters, spotted lanternflies are also considered a danger to many species of trees, both ornamental and forest. Red maple and black walnut are among the potential victims.
Ironically, the insect's favoured host is also an invasive species: The so-called "tree of heaven," Ailanthus altissima. Both species are Chinese in origin.
Although the insect's range is only about five kilometres, industry watchers worry that it has made its way to North America via international shipments, and its spread is continuing with the transport of cargo.
"They're really good at hitchhiking," said Madison Sturba, outreach coordinator with the Invasive Species Centre. "The adults can cling onto vehicles as we drive, and they can lay egg masses on really any hard surfaces."
Spotted lanternfly egg masses blend in and are hard to detect. (Canadian Food Inspection Agency via CBC News)
Unlike the bug itself, the sticky egg masses of the spotted lanternfly are not colourful or distinctive. "They almost look like a smear of mud. They can be kind of difficult to notice, especially if you don't know what to look for," Sturba said.
Asked if there's anything she can say to ease community concerns about the spotted lanternfly, Sturba says it's good Windsor-Essex residents are showing such awareness of the species.
A photo of the spotted lanternfly that Catherine Archer sighted and killed in south Windsor on Sept. 25, 2024. (Catherine Archer via CBC News)
"Hopefully, that means all the outreach has been working," Sturba said. "The Invasive Species Centre and many of our partners like the CFIA have been trying really hard to spread the word about the spotted lanternfly."
"It's really important to snap it, catch it, and report it. So take a picture, try and catch it. It doesn't sting or bite in any way."
But the insect's lack of defensive abilities doesn't make it any less fearsome to people in agricultural industries.
"It's scary," said Tom O'Brien, founder of Harrow-based Cooper's Hawk Vineyards. "It's a sap eater... sap is very important to vines. The flow of the sap inside the plant is critical to the development of the leaves."
"Any interruption to that growing process would have a detrimental impact. Even if it's for a week or two, it'll stunt the growth of the berries and we'll have a limited yield."
O'Brien said grape growers across the province have been dreading the spotted lanternfly's local arrival for a number of years. They're hoping their U.S. counterparts have been working on effective insecticide strategies.
"We're going to have to rely on the federal government, which is the entity that approves that types of sprays (we can use). We need ot work with the scientists and find out what type of program the growers should be undertaking — because if we wait until it shows up, we might be too late."
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This article, written by Dalson Chen, was originally published for CBC News.
