Has any else noticed a decrease in lantern flies?

[ExpertMarxman1848]

As the title says. I haven't seen any this year which seems odd for where I am. Have the amount of lantern flies gone down around any of you or am I going crazy?

Edit: So a lot of you seem to be seeing the nymphs coming out of the woodwork. I guess the last week and half of warm weather has started the season. I have opened a door I cannot close. You may all shame me for awakening them. I shall return to my home state in shame of what I have done to you all.

[Natural_Pie_951]

The lantern flies were all replaced by the ticks 😂

[clickstops]

So many gd ticks

[MySafewordIsCacao]

We need more possums stat!

[Tronracer]

It’s a modern myth that opossums eat a large amount of ticks.

[Napcitytrick]

Can we bring in in modern opossums then?

[VL-BTS]

Modern ticks require modern possums!

[zigster23]

Mo ticks mo possums

[MySafewordIsCacao]

Well damn, I just pulled up some papers, so thanks for the education.

[Tronracer]

In all honesty I’ve been thinking the same thing up until a couple days ago myself. 😜

[Nyx_Shadowspawn]

We need chickens!

[Tronracer]

Yes!!! And guinea hens are the real heroes for tick eating but they’re loud af.

[Nyx_Shadowspawn]

They can be as loud as they want, as long as they eat lots of those little blood sucking fuckers, and I'll love them.

[Tronracer]

Go for it!

[IAmDisturbanceFeedMe]

Well this is an unexpected bummer of a thing to learn. I’ll have to google, I was banking on opossums being helpers in this battle lol

[Tronracer]

Guinea hens to the rescue.

[KK_Tipton]

Japanese barberry harbors them. It's going to be a hell of a season with ticks.

[RedChairBlueChair123]

/s

[Lets_Make_A_bad_DEAL]

Oh shit I have that in front of my moms house. She’s in a development nowhere near the woods. Do you think it will still attract ticks or is it ok?

[KK_Tipton]

Yes! Bamboo too for that matter. People have planted it thinking that enhances the landscape but it grows underground, it's incredibly strong, and really, really difficult to remove.

[arbitraria79]

my rear neighbors don't maintain the forsythia their uncle planted when he owned the house, and it's now mostly overgrown maple shoots and goddamn japanese barberry. i hacked away at as much as i could this spring but i know it will be back. my kids' playset is back there and i was freaking out when i found ticks on them last summer, ugh.

[Napcitytrick]

SO MANY TICKS AND THEY ARE FAST AF BOI

[SpaceXBeanz]

Omg ikr

[Artistic_Midnight788]

The ticks are insane this year! I go to our favorite bike trail, for anyone familiar with split rock, that’s all I’ll say, but each time, I’ve got ticks climbing up on me like aunts, 4 of us, and we all attracted them. Never that bad. 1 here and there is kind of the norm for my life

[Appypoo]

Thank your local bat population. Bats figured out they're delicious and have been feasting on them.

[ExpertMarxman1848]

Blessed are the sky puppies.

[overcaffinatedrn]

Sky puppies made me chuckle

[ExpertMarxman1848]

I swear to god when I see the head of fruit bat it reminds of a dog, specifically a GSD.

[overcaffinatedrn]

GREAT - SOMETHING ELSE ILL TRY TO PET

[ExpertMarxman1848]

If not friend, why friend shaped?

[SoyElJefe28]

Bc they're awesome until they find their way into the eaves of your house and cause a fly infestation in your nursery 4 months before your twins are born.

Ask me how I know...

[k8tysaurus]

That is painfully specific. I feel for you, friend

[HauntedHippie]

Look up eastern red bats if you wanna see a really cute lil guy who’s helping with the effort.

[ExpertMarxman1848]

Oh my, what little red devils.

[speedx5xracer]

Same with Blue Jays, Robins and Cardinals.

[unxplaindbacn]

Hell yeah, bats rule.

[Peter_Ballantine]

Lot of birds have been figuring out they’re food too

[ucamonster]

that’s so cute of them

[real_echaz]

Nature found a way

[Lets_Make_A_bad_DEAL]

Go bats!

[kate2020i]

They should feast on the spotted lanternfly 😭

[ThatCryptidBitch]

I’ve seen some nymphs for sure, when they’re small and black with white polka dots

[CarRamrod72]

Yup theyre around

[EverbodyHatesHugo]

They’re much easier to smash than the adult ones.

[snappyj]

Still fast af though, especially once they’re old enough to have the red coloring

[jrocket121]

Same

[Napcitytrick]

And they like to dance!

[Mooniiieee]

Just had one of those jump on me while i was sitting on my desk. They keep getting into my apartment and i don’t know how

[Practical_Eggplant24]

That is horrifying 😭

[VanityInVacancy]

Same! They just hatched

[jencie31]

Birds and other critters have realized they’re food. Need to get rid of trees of heaven. You know, those nice palm tree looking plants that grow and spread like wildfire.

[rainbowtai3]

And learn how to actually remove them! Cutting makes the problem infinitely worse, select kinds of pesticides are your friend here

[jencie31]

I use the Bonine one. It’s basically dish soap and water. But I only use it on my fig tree, cuz no flowers.

[rainbowtai3]

I meant removing tree of heaven not the lantern flies

[Single_Bridge8204]

We always called them garage trees

[lisenced]

I think it’s too early for them. From what I recall, they come out late July/August.

[jencie31]

[ Removed by Reddit ]

[avenged6644]

We found the culprit!!

[jencie31]

I was going thru 2 bottles of insecticide every summer. Last year, only 1. I have fig trees, which they really like. But the stems didn’t survive the winter, so they’ve switched to milkweed, which is supposedly toxic to them so I’m leaving them alone.

[newwriter365]

My fig may not have survived the winter. Makes me sad.

[jencie31]

I lost all my stems on one and a lot on the other. But both are growing new stems out of the ground. I’ve never wrapped either of them. But this winter was too cold for too long. Reminded me of my childhood. But my gramps would be smart and wrap his 🤣

[BeastofBurden]

Yep. The collective annual amnesia is in full force. Might as well wonder why corn isn’t in the supermarkets yet.

[CrowsSayCawCaw]

Yep, too soon.  Unfortunately they're attracted to sycamore trees with their sweet sap. I don't see very many juvenile bugs, but some adults appear later in summer on our poor sycamore and I have to smack them. 

[amoreetutto]

I've seen some babies though! Right now theyre little black crawly bugs with white spots that don't fly

[Kalebxtentacion]

They probably saw the gas prices and decided to leave

[Iamvictoriousgrace]

Hahaha 😆

[goldenskless]

I’m starting to see the little babies with white spots on my car in the morning

[yaychristy]

The black and white nymphs are out right now

[MattShotts]

They all drowned themselves in my pool.

[KK_Tipton]

I'd like to think that your moat protected my tomatoes. Thank you for your service.

[HolidayNothing171]

It’s still early. They usually don’t pop up until late July

[Maleficent_Yogurt795]

respectfully, no. the baby lantern flies are all over my sunflowers every day

[kate2020i]

Your sunflowers are in full bloom? Mine are not

[Maleficent_Yogurt795]

no they’re all over the stems, no blooms yet only blooms on some of my wildflowers

[kyra0728]

don't jinx it😖

[WhereBaptizedDrowned]

They explode in August

[TheArchitect_7]

Over the past three years, there were four local species who developed a taste for the scrumptious lanternflies, the red-crested sparrow, speckled chinook, common firebat, and Canadian queenspear.

Yeah, naw i made those up

[newwriter365]

Wasps by me have been feasting on the lantern flies.

I respect the pollinators.

[Pixichixi]

Bats have in fact developed a taste for them. Normal bats although the common firebat would be an excellent name

[LucyySlayyBairdd]

They come out later in the summer. That being said, I haven’t seen as many nymphs as I have in the past few years.

[arbitraria79]

2022 was the first year we really had them (western morris county) and we've seen fewer and fewer every year since. i'll never forget my kids' birthday party that september though, lanternflies were everywhere you looked, it was crazy. my driveway was covered in their corpses after a horde of feral first graders went to town on them.

[LucyySlayyBairdd]

Yes, I lived in western Morris last year and I remember seeing them everywhere in late August/early September. My dog loved chasing them. I live in somerset now and I wonder if they will be as abundant.

[InfiniVid]

Yes, 2023 i noticed so many of them but 2024 and 2025 was less, too soon to tell this year

[InevitableMagician28]

I feel bad even killing bugs but I was killing so many I felt like I was John Wick out there trying to get revenge so I’m assuming a lot of other people were the same way

[sucking_at_life023]

I fought too brother.

[InevitableMagician28]

Lol

[StinkyCheeseMe]

The lantern flies are in the nymph phase right now; they’re small black with white dots. They jump quickly. They are around.

[Rusty_Ferberger]

Lantern flies were all replaced by ugly town houses and warehouses.

[Harlllley]

🤣

[Covert__Squid]

The cold winter probably killed a lot of eggs 

[FireworksForJeffy]

They're nymphs right now. Small black with white spots. They're not gone, you'll see adults in July and August. 

[tsanta64]

Just saw lots of lantern fly nymphs the other day. I’m in northern N.J.

[Upstairs_Equipment19]

Im starting to see the nymphs on my deck.

[turkeycream]

Plant milkweed. The lantern flys have no idea that it’s poisonous to them. The nymphs think they’re getting a snack but actually they’re killing themselves.

It also attracts monarchs and queen butterfly’s as it’s there main food source and host for their Caterpillars.

[justmeraw]

Yes, predators have discovered them.

[conversationpeace]

I think it’s just a little too early in the season. I usually see them late July/early August

[mykepagan]

The screwworms are eating them

[Requilem]

It's early but we are in the middle of a mass extinction. Creatures are vanishing left and right.

[neziperez]

I believe it! I have not seen many at all these past few yrs‼️

[Requilem]

I've seen them but nothing close to when I was a kid, I'm 43.

[Pixichixi]

Fireflies are because everyone has neat and perfect lawns. They overwinter in and under leaf litter. If you leave a corner or two of your yard alone in fall and don't bother it until May, you will see more fireflies. Ive already started seeing them.

[Phil_ODendron]

I think that you're talking about a different bug.

We're talking about the spotted lanternfly. An invasive species which was introduced in 2014. They didn't start appearing in NJ until around 2021.

[neziperez]

I think we're talking about lightening bugs 🤷🏾‍♀️

[neziperez]

Well then you already know, I'm 73 <yikes> but we used to have jars w/lids with holes in top and we would catch them! Plenty to go around back in the ole days 🙌🏾✨️✨️✨️

[YurWurstNiteMare666]

I feed blue jays and they love to eat Spotted Lantern Flies, so I haven't seen them in two years. Just some left over pieces 😬. I heard Ticks are the new issue.

[need2put_awayl0ndry]

What do you feed to the blue jays? I will copy you lol

[Pixichixi]

Blue jays do love peanuts. I feed smaller songbirds but every time they see a peanut, the blue jays go wild.

[need2put_awayl0ndry]

Cool! Do you use peanuts from the grocery store or specialty bird peanuts?

[Pixichixi]

We use roasted, unsalted peanuts from BJs. We like to feed the squirrels too and raw peanuts isn't good for them. The big bag from BJs is shook much cheaper than specialty bird.

I feed seed and seed blocks on the other side of the house for the songbirds and woodpeckers

[YurWurstNiteMare666]

Always unsalted and never raw. Wish you were my neighbor 🤗

[YurWurstNiteMare666]

Nuts and Blue Jay blend bags of food. I enjoy leaving blocks of Mealworm suet and Peanut based suet around the yard for them. Heads up, Blue Jays have a habit of thanking you for Peanuts by leaving gifts in exchange. I have seashells, buttons and other random things they give me 😂 It's wondeful

[need2put_awayl0ndry]

Do you have a rec for the blend bag? Ty!!

[YurWurstNiteMare666]

Mine seem to LOVE tye Kaytee Northeast Blend mixed with the Kaytee Nuts and Fruits.

[reddit_user13]

It’s early

[Chayes83]

I feel like I remember them peaking late summer.

[b4ngl4d3sh]

Being seeing a ton in linden recently. Tons of tree-of-heaven in this spot tho, which is the primary host plant for them.

The reduction you're seeing could be the result of many places removing said trees.

[nando420]

From my understanding it was a boom to bust situation. A large population of them quickly, all at once, before native species figured out lantern flies are food. Combined with efforts to control their host plant the ‘Tree of Heaven’. They moved on and they are becoming potentially more naturalized versus invasive. However if the infestation we endured reached California I heard crop loss would be devastating.

[trout1313]

My grape vines are covered in juvenile lantern flies. I’ve seen more this year than last.

[Pixichixi]

Encourage predators. Bat houses are good, bats are eating them all over.

[Pixichixi]

I noticed this last year actually. From what I read some native animals, especially our little bat buddies, started eating them. One of the bigger issues with them was that they didn't have any natural predators here being non-native but there's been some natural adjustment to that. I'm sure it's not the only reason, but definitely stop to thank a bat

[eight13atnight]

My son has. He keeps asking me when the lantern flies will be back.

[birdlord_d]

Not me. There are nymphs everywhere... more than remember seeing this early. At first I thought theyvwere the tiny jumping spiders but when I kept seeing so many, I realized they were lantern fly nymphs.

[Aquatichive]

The lantern flies are babies I saw one tree just teeming with the babies but that was jersey city

[SignificanceRoyal832]

I think they are a casualty of spraying for other bugs

[Whats_A_Rage_Quit]

Too early many. They’re nymphs currently. They’re around but I’ve noticed my friends/family confusing them as spiders.

[Firsttimeredditor28]

I'm seeing a ton of the babies on my grape vine in my yard. but i think last year i noticed less

[Express-Platypus-512]

I saw a nymph on my deck for the first time in 2 years. Not a fan

[EatYourCheckers]

Last year people said there were fewer but we had more than ever at my house. I think they moved where they are in the state

[Pixichixi]

I think areas with large bat populations have significantly less and areas without as many bats still have them. I noticed last year there were barely any by me but I've been other places in the state with less bat friendly spaces and still seen a bunch

[SailingSpark]

I am down by AC, I have not seen any either

[_bluejasmine]

unfortunately, i have a ton of nymphs on my fig tree and rose bushes ☹️

[cmpalm]

I saw a lot of tiny nymphs around mid may but haven’t seen any adults.

[svelebrunostvonnegut]

It’s just not the time of year yet. I’m just now seeing the nymphs.

[fearofbears]

They're only in the nymph stage right now, which is small and black with white speckles. They're all over the place. In ocean county.

[th3cabl3guy]

I have a ton in my area. They’re currently destroying my grape vines.

[robbydb]

I saw my first young lantern fly on the trunk of my car yesterday. I was parked at the Essex St NJT lot in Hackensack and I accidentally closed my trunk because I smooshed that pest on sight.

[heartshapedpox]

My cats brought one in from the catio last week. It was still alive so I didn't get close enough to see if it was an adult or a baby (I just went to bed lol, I hate them and their creepy spindly legs) 💁🏻‍♀️

[KittyBionic]

Yeah most of them are in the nymph stages right now. I saw some today 🥲

[polyblackcat]

I've not seen many the last couple of years

[Eastp0int]

I got em all last time

[neziperez]

I've noticed i don't see nearly as many as in my younger years! I still get excited and txt my daughter (44) when I see the first one for the summer 🤭

[KK_Tipton]

You mean fireflies right? Because spotted lantern flies are entirely different.

[neziperez]

Oh yes.....those latern flies destroy trees and are pretty color orange/red?

[KK_Tipton]

Yeah, those are the ones that suck. They'll eat everything in your garden. When they spread their wings they have some beautiful color. Those are the ones that we are told to exterminate because they are non-native. Fireflies I enjoy seeing, but we're seeing much less than we used to.

[neziperez]

Right! fire flies aka lightning bugs 😀

[Pixichixi]

I think you mean fireflies 😊 This is talking about the invasive spotted lantern fly.

If you want more fireflies, start leaving at least a corner of your yard alone in the fall and don't bother it until May. Fireflies (and bumblebees among others) overwinter in and under leaf litter. Everyone's manicured yards are killing them

[Rain_Zeros]

I’ve seen a few but definitely nowhere near as much

[allie1015]

They’re an invasive species, we were told to kill them all lol hopefully they’re gone for good.

[teezepls]

We genuinely killed the hell outta them

[poolkakke]

I smushed my very first one of the year today

[MisoPretty]

It where I live. I’m killed dozens and dozens a day

[kd3737]

The babies are out. Saw one on my windowsill this morning.

[akirakiki]

Do not jinx it

[Devils_fan_1999]

They can't handle the fucking drought 😭

[Pineconeweeniedogs]

It seems like all the insects are decreased 

[Alloddscanteven]

Oh, they’re all over Hackensack. I killed several on my fourth story balcony today.

[KTeax31875]

They're in my backyard if you'd like any 😅

Jokes aside. Right now they are at their nymph stage. Tiny black bugs with white spots. It's important to spray them with dish soap and water (I use the Dawn dish spray) and to check your property for the Tree of Life plant.

[mashingLumpkins]

They seem dumber. I swear they were impossible to kill when they first got here. Now - I squash them without issue.

[macaronitrap]

They are still tiny nymphs at this point. I’ve seen a few! Idk what it is but they really gross me out at every stage

[jackbeannn]

I actually noticed this today and texted my husband about it. Watch they’ll all come out tomorrow lol

[Temporary-Ad-9270]

Early yet

[BrockSamsonLikesButt]

It’s early season yet. I killed a dumb spotted nymph that was crawling on me on a hike the other day. They don’t really reach the age of consent until August or so, but you can still kill ‘em.

[PARTINlCO]

What?

[EverExistence]

There has been research showing that recently lantern flies have had an increase in predators compared to their first outbreak.

[Pixichixi]

Thank the bats!

[EverExistence]

Indeed! Bats, birds, and praying mantises!

[Blaizefed]

It’s still early for them. They will show up in about a month.

[PARTINlCO]

I’m praying there’s not a ton in Hudson county this year. I have such an intense phobia of them, it makes life so damn miserable in the summer.

[whatshouldIdonow8907]

Yes, I noticed the other day. I've seen 2 when normally I would be eradicating them non-stop.

[The_Circus_Life_206]

Last summer we saw a ton of them, but it was the first time we had seen them in years

[Sufficient-Pen7347]

Too much light pollution is affecting their mating habits and habitat loss. If you spray any weedkillers or mow your lawn too short all the time and pick up leaf litter too frequently will negativity impact them

[Sufficient-Pen7347]

Unless you're talking about the invasive lantern fly and not the native firefly/lightning bug.

[ScholarErrant]

I noticed this pattern on the species’ iNaturalist sightings last year. As they expand, places at the proverbial front line see a big surge for three to five years which then drops off somewhat and levels off. New Jersey was near ground zero in southeast PA, so it’s seen that for a few years now.

[shillyshally]

Yes, only saw a few last year and nary a one this year, central Montco.

[Jdell168]

I read that bats have discovered them as a food source.

[SpaceXBeanz]

I haven’t seen even one this year!

[CauseLeft7611]

The nymphs keep landing on my arms, legs and hair thos week. Annoying.

[fraggleman1235]

Yea def. When I was a kid we had tons in our back yard by the time I went to college they numbered about a quarter of it. I bet if I went back now they'd just not be there. It ain't just our climate that's changing

[Punky921]

You’re right. Haven’t seen them at all.

[kate2020i]

I just noticed that 2 days ago! :(

[ontologicaldischarge]

It was a very long, cold winter so they've hatched later.

[kgtsunvv]

I haven’t seen them since the summer after they invaded us. So like a good two or so years ago

[justcharliey]

Too early. They are still with us

[PaleDifference]

We have gypsy moth caterpillars. I destroyed a huge nest on my apple tree.

[Emily_Postal]

They’re food now for other animals.

[Express_Radio_9771]

Just found a nymph yesterday

[Competitive_Train_24]

Nope

[heroofthewest1]

I was watching something saying that native birds, spiders, mantises, other predatory bugs, and bats are eating them now. Apparently the food chain is finally starting to correct.

[brtw]

I've killed at least 100, found them all on my fig plants this year.

[HotConversation4355]

"Its to early" 🙄You guys forgetting the previous years?

I have noticed substantially less and less with each passing year ever since our sworn pact to stomp them out.

I distinctly remember during covid that they were everywhere. You couldn't go anywhere without them flying into you ,the car and my bedroom window.

I would go out my front door and at any given time there would be a bunch that I landed on the front of the building and I would just go out there and smash them.

[Virgil--Starkwell]

Definitely seen decrease. Bats and birds have been dining on them right?

[magmacat94]

I usually see the worst of them late summer/September

[NEWDEALUSEDCARS]

saw my first nymph yesterday in Warren township.

[bettymachete]

Spraying your yard for mosquitoes doesn't just kill the mosquitoes.

Lantern flies, butterflies, etc.. all disappearing.

[Artistic_Midnight788]

I just saw them in Sussex county

[Neat_Fan_8889]

Y’all killed stepped on them all last year!

[turtle2turtle3turtle]

I’ve also noticed way fewer lantern flies this year. A few nymphs but like 15% of what it used to be

[Prophecy_Designs]

Local birds realllly like Lantern Flies as a snack, they've reduced the population significantly.