Dead spotted lanternflies wash up on area beaches

From Lewes Beach to areas farther south, Cape Region visitors got an unexpected visit from an invasive species earlier this week when they washed up on shore. No, it wasn’t more jellyfish. This time, there were thousands of dead spotted lanternflies at the high-tide line.

It’s definitely unusual to see spotted lanternflies on or near the beach, because it’s not really near their food sources, said Katie Bielicki, who has overseen the Delaware Department of Agriculture spotted lanternfly program for nearly a decade. Spotted lanternflies aren’t good fliers, which is why they’re considered hitchhiker bugs, she said, speculating that some of the recent big storms might have pushed the flies out over the ocean, where they died and then washed up onshore.

Lewes Beach Patrol Capt. Strohm Edwards said the spotted lanternflies were found on Johnnie Walker Beach. It was the first time he had seen them, he said.

Dewey Beach Patrol Capt. Todd Fritchman confirmed Bielicki’s suspicion, saying the prevailing west winds push them out over the ocean as they disperse. They are floating up to 80 miles out from shore and are a highly invasive species, he said.

In Rehoboth, the flies were on the beach Monday and Tuesday, but then the wind changed direction, the waves got bigger and current got rougher, which pulled some of the sand on the beach, along with the dead flies’ carcasses, back into the ocean.

According to the DDA website, the spotted lanternfly is a plant hopper native to China, India and Vietnam that attacks many hosts, including forests, ornamental trees, orchards, hops and grapes. The spotted lanternfly adult is 1-inch long and half an inch wide at rest, has forewings that are grey with black spots, has hind wings that are red with black spots, has a black head and black legs, and has an abdomen that is yellow with broad black bands. Its immature stages are small, round and black with white spots, and red patches develop as they grow.

The spotted lanternfly has been in Delaware since about 2017 and is now in all parts of the state, said Bielicki.

Specific to this year, Bielicki said they started getting reports of spotted lanternflies in the spring, which is a little early. It was a warm early spring and it’s been a wet summer, which has probably given them more opportunity to spread, she said.

Spotted lanternflies tend to come in waves, said Bielicki. There used to be more sightings in New Castle County, but now there are fewer there and more in Sussex County, she said.

Delaware has an interesting transportation system, said Bielicki, referencing the north/south roads of Route 1, Route 113, Route 13, a network of railroads and I-95. The spotted lanternfly will cling onto something traveling on one of those routes and get a ride to somewhere new, she said.

When the spotted lanternfly was first discovered in Delaware, the Department of Agriculture asked people who saw one to call a hotline and report the location. With the winged insect now found statewide, the state is no longer asking for sighting reports, said Bielicki. It can be worrisome to see them on a tree, but research has indicated that spotted lanternflies don’t kill healthy trees, she said.

The state is still working on preventive maintenance with local residents, landowners and business owners, said Bielicki. Also, the DDA website has a lot of information related to managing the spread of the spotted lanternfly, she said.

The University of Delaware Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners program is a group of more than 200 volunteers across the state who offer research-based advice for novice gardeners. Sussex County residents with questions can call the garden helpline at 302-831-3389.