Spotted lanternfly growing in numbers across Connecticut
They are an exotic, invasive sap-feeding plant hopper that has the potential to impact agriculture.
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The Connecticut Agriculture Experiment station says the spotted lanternfly is now in all eight counties in Connecticut.
They are found primarily in Fairfield and New Haven counties.
Spotted lanternflies are native to China and East Asia, but experts say they were first found in the United States in Pennsylvania in 2014.
They are an exotic, invasive sap-feeding plant hopper that has the potential to impact agriculture.
Spotted lanternfly adults are able to feed on up to at least 100 different species of plants, including grapes, hops and ornamental trees.
Their plant of preference is the tree of heaven.
"We expected a bloom of spotted lanternfly because we've seen high numbers of nymphs during the Spring and so people are rather alarmed because now they're starting to see the adults which are much bigger and more obvious because they are brilliant looking insects and very easy to see," said Dr Gale Ridge with the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station.
Experts encourage people to crush them if they seem them.
Because the spotted lanternfly jumps forward, experts say its best to stomp forward to kill them.
