On September 25, 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) announced finding two dead specimens of the invasive spotted lanternfly(SLF) in the towns of Milford and Norwood, MA. MDAR notes they were brought in on materials that originated in Pennsylvania counties currently under a spotted lanternfly quarantine. MDAR was also recently notified that nursery stock with spotted lanternfly egg masses and adults may have been unintentionally imported and planted in several parts of Massachusetts.
Because no live lanternflies have yet been found in Massachusetts, there is currently no evidence that SLF has become established in the Commonwealth. As a precaution, surveys are planned in the areas where the insects were found to confirm that no live populations are present. While a dead lanternfly was previously found in the Boston area in December of 2018, repeated surveys have found no further signs of SLF in that part of the state. For more information, visit MDAR's press release: https://www.mass.gov/news/state-agricultural-officials-urge-residents-to-report-signs-of-invasive-spotted-lanternfly
For more information about the spotted lanternfly, please visit: https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/spotted-lanternfly
If you have seen any of the life stages of this insect (pictured here) in Massachusetts, please report it: https://massnrc.org/pests/slfreport.aspx
