Spotted Lantern Fly

The spotted lanternfly was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since spread to 26 counties in that state and at least six other eastern states. It's moving into southern New England, Ohio and Indiana. 

This approximately 1-inch-long species from Asia has attractive polka-dotted front wings but can infest and kill trees and plants. We recently caught up with Professor Frank Hale, an entomologist who is tracking this species.

The Conversation: How did the spotted lanternfly get to the U.S., and how quickly is it spreading?

Frank Hale: It is native to India, China and Vietnam and probably arrived in a cut stone shipment in 2012. The first sighting was in 2014 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, on a tree of heaven—a common invasive tree brought to North America from China in the late 1700s.

By July 2021 the lanternfly had spread to about half of Pennsylvania, large areas of New Jersey, parts of New York state, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. It also had been found in western Connecticut, eastern Ohio, and now Indiana. 

To give an idea of how fast these lanternflies spread, they were introduced into South Korea in 2004 and spread throughout that entire country—which is approximately the size of Pennsylvania—in only three years.  READ MORE

Just Chillin'

I recently found an online radio station that play CLASSIC ROCK 1964 to 1971 and it reminds me of my transition from High School in Cairo, Egypt to College in North Carolina to the US Navy in Norfolk, VA all of this during the peak of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Woman's Liberation Movement where everyone spent a lot of time and energy burning bras, drinking a little wine, and smoking a little weed.  My time in the military did little for me except allowed me to buy stereo and camera equipment at wholesale prices and burned into my mind that NOT WANTING TO BE IN COLLEGE had been a monumental mistake.  However, the time I did spend in the military provided me with the GI BILL and I finished my BA and MBA degrees without costing me ONE DAMN CENT except my time spent in class and studying and driving to and from campus.

I remember arguing with my College Advisor about my Senior Thesis (yes...  back in the 60's seniors had to write a thesis in order to graduate and receive a BA degree) and how he thought there was not enough substance with my idea.  I had wanted to take the following groups:  The Beatles, The Doors, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Credence Clearwater Revival, The Byrds, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and The Band and taking ALL THEIR SONG LYRICS analyze them using all the approaches that my English Degree had taught me to use when analyzing the great works of literature including prose and poetry.

This might have been the main reason why I left college and enlisted in the Navy...  I cut off my nose to spite my face...  it seems.

And...  when I returned to that same college, a senior thesis was no longer required...  PISSER...

My English degree did very little for me except open the door to management positions because I had earned a 4 year degree.  My first position was DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT EFFICACY FOR A MICROBIOLOGICAL MEDIA MANUFACTURER...  WTF...  but, a job is a job.

It's a frigging FLAAAAASHBACK....  The Doors...  Light My Fire...

THINK ABOUT THIS...

The U.S. military reported 58,220 American casualties in Vietnam.

US government reports 57, 640 American deaths due to COVID-19.

580 less deaths due to COVID-19 than Vietnam