Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Little spotted tree killers showing up in force in Boston

universalhub.com · 2hShare

Spotted tree killer spotted in Millennium Park. Spotted lanternflies, which bore into trees for sap, are popping up across Boston. The other day, Mary Ellen was taking her usual walk around Millennium Park in West Roxbury when she spotted four of the bugs. She reports she was able to squish two of the mini-demons, but the other two escaped. "They're fast," she says. Yesterday, Lori Magno spotted one downtown. She reports she crushed "the invasive mofo," then reported it to the state's Spotted Lanternfly Report system . The species is native to China, where a parasitic wasp keeps its numbers under control, but naturally, the wasp didn't come with it when it was accidentally released in Pennsylvania in 2014. The first reported Massachusetts sighting was in 2021; it's now found from the New York line to the Atlantic . Ironically, its favorite tree is another invasive species from China: Ailanthus, or tree of heaven. But it can also infest apple and maple trees, and it doesn't mind grape v

First report: Stone: Spotted lanternflies take wing as adults emerge — toledoblade.com, 2d