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Ag Bytes<br />
on something, and that something being<br />
moved. It looks like a smear of mud.”<br />
An “astute” resident who lives near the<br />
county line that divides Dallas and Polk<br />
counties first glimpsed a young lanternfly<br />
— a little, black beetle-looking creature<br />
with white spots — on a maple tree<br />
and captured it for official identification,<br />
Pruisner said. The person found another in<br />
the area about a week later.<br />
“We’re very appreciative of that person,”<br />
she said.<br />
The area is under heavy residential construction,<br />
and Pruisner said it’s likely the<br />
insects hitched a ride on some landscaping<br />
material.<br />
The herd of people was unable to find an<br />
egg mass, and no other lanternflies were<br />
seen in the area. The bugs do not travel<br />
great distances on their own because —<br />
despite their name — they jump and glide<br />
more than fly.<br />
The discovered lanternflies had yet to<br />
turn red with black and white spots, which<br />
is the last nymph stage before becoming<br />
an adult with a chance to lay eggs. Adults<br />
are about an inch long, with gray wings<br />
spotted with black that sit like a long tent<br />
on their backs. Their underneath or hind<br />
wings are red, black and white.<br />
The egg-laying stage can start in September,<br />
with the eggs hatching in May.<br />
Each female adult is believed to lay at<br />
least 60 eggs each year.<br />
The insect was first discovered in Pennsylvania<br />
in 2014 and has since established<br />
notable populations in 11 states, according<br />
to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The<br />
closest one to Iowa is Indiana.<br />
IDALS plans to put out traps and lures<br />
in the area and to monitor another invasive<br />
Chinese transplant: The tree of heaven.<br />
The name is a bit of a misnomer because<br />
it releases offensive odors from its ornate<br />
flowers and is a favorite for the lanternfly.<br />
Research has shown that adult lanternflies<br />
that feed on the tree can lay many more<br />
eggs and lay them sooner.<br />
The tree of heaven — taxonomically<br />
known as ailanthus altissima — is sporadically<br />
present in Iowa, Pruisner said. They<br />
will be watched for lanternflies.<br />
The insects can swarm trees and plunge<br />
their tubelike mouths into bark to slurp<br />
sap. They secrete a sweet sticky fluid that<br />
builds on trunks or on the nearby ground<br />
and can get moldy.<br />
Those in Iowa who suspect they have<br />
found a spotted lanternfly can contact ID-<br />
ALS’ Entomology and Plant Science Bureau<br />
at (515) 725-1470 or entomology@<br />
iowaagriculture.gov.<br />
Jared Strong with the Iowa Capital Dispatch<br />
contributed this story.<br />
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