Where Are The Spotted Lanternflies Now?

Spotted lanternfly adult at Herrs Island backchannel, 25 July 2025 (pohto by Kate St. John) 29 July 2026 This week usually begins the peak of Pittsburgh’s spotted lanternfly season but I’ve seen only two red nymphs and two winged adults despite actively looking for them. What a relief that the invasion we experienced in 2023 is gone! In fact spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula, SLF) have moved on to new territory where they are horrifying a whole new set of people. This summer the frontlines are in Connecticut/Rhode Island/Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, Atlanta area, northern Kentucky + Cincinnati and Tennessee. By comparing Before and After we can see those frontlines on Cornell IPM’s spotted lanternfly county status maps –> July 2025 and May 2026. At the height of their invasion in Pittsburgh we thought they’d never go away, but they do. In August 2023 I looked into the invasion experience in eastern Pennsylvania where they were first found in North America. People…