Paul Szmal: And FLX Morning continues now, it is 840, sunny skies, temperature at 66. And we have a couple of guests joining us from Seneca County Cornell Cooperative Extension. First off, you hear her on our Finger Lakes Agricultural Report, Judy Wright is here. Good morning, Judy.
Judy Wright: Good morning, Paul. Thanks for having me live.
Paul Szmal: And also joining us is one of the key folks behind Cornell's IPM program, Integrated Pest Management, and that's Brian Eschenauer. Brian, how are you this morning?
Brian Eshenaur: Hey, I'm good. Thanks for having me on.
Paul Szmal: And Brian, I want to get to you first and talk about what we have here that may be a potential issue for the Finger Lakes region, which is another invasive species that has been discovered in the area.
Brian Eshenaur: Yeah, that is Spotted Lanternfly. And unfortunately, it is in the area now and we're encouraging everybody to keep an eye out for it. We really want reports about this new invasive insect.
Paul Szmal: What is a Spotted Lanternfly and why is it considered an invasive insect?
Brian Eshenaur: Yeah, this is an insect that arrived first about 10 years ago in Pennsylvania. It was not known to be in North America before then, and it arrived from Asia accidentally on some shipment of stone that it was actually brought in. And after it was in that area of Pennsylvania for a couple of years, it was found that it's particularly harmful to grape vines. And there actually entire vineyards were lost in that area of Pennsylvania due to feeding by this insect. So we're really concerned about our Finger Lakes and the wine-growing heritage, and it's really an important part of our agriculture economy in this area.
Paul Szmal: What does a Spotted Lanternfly look like?
Brian Eshenaur: Yeah, it's about an inch long. Right now, at this time of year, when the adults are out, that's what we would see about an inch long. It has black spots on the backside, it's pretty distinct. Its wings are held up kind of like a tent when it's resting, and it has dark red-orange underwings. And kind of at the end of the wings, there's a brickwork pattern to it. So it's kind of an attractive insect, but it is invasive.
In its native habitat, it's hard to find, because there it's kept in check by other predatory insects and diseases that feed on it. But like so many invasive species, when it's out of its home territory in an area where there's no natural predators for it, the populations can explode. And that's what's happened in Pennsylvania, and now as it's moved its way up into New York, we're seeing that happen here as well. A few years ago, it was in New York City and caught a lot of attention there. It's moved its way up the Hudson Valley, and sadly, yes, we have populations here in the Finger Lakes.
Paul Szmal: Judy, correct me if I'm wrong, but you actually saw one of those in Pennsylvania, and your first thought was, I can't make that, let this get anywhere near my car or any way that it could be transferred anywhere.
Judy Wright: That's correct. I was traveling back and forth through Pennsylvania for a number of years when it was in Pennsylvania. And when I first saw it at a rest stop, I was like, oh my gosh, I cannot let this into my car, onto my car, anywhere near my car. I did not want to be the first one to bring Spotted Lanternfly into the Finger Lakes. So I was very careful about that and squished as many as I could.
Paul Szmal: Well, that brings about the question, Brian, of what do we do to de-escalate the population of these? I mean, is this an insect that needs to be killed on sight or?
Brian Eshenaur: Yeah. But since the populations are relatively low in this area, if anyone sees it when they're out on the trail or in their backyard, we'd really encourage them to take a photo first, you know, pull out your cell phone, take a picture and then report it. And then yeah, absolutely. If you can kill it now, they do hop quickly. But if you can stomp on it, that would be great. That always helps. So reporting it is key and that helps our grape growers know the areas where it's at and they have to step up their management practices. They need to scout more, check for the insect and the insect numbers in their vineyards.
Paul Szmal: Now how do the vineyard owners protect their vineyards from an insect like this? Is there a natural predator that can be introduced into the environment or are there chemical means of doing that that wouldn't harm the actual grape crop?
Brian Eshenaur: Yeah. Great questions. And yes to both. So right now they're working on introducing an insect that is a predator. It looks like exclusively of spotted lanternfly and that's one that's part of its native habitat in Asia. And they're trying to bring that in. But that's right now in USDA quarantine facilities because we want to make sure that doesn't affect any of our native insects. So that's some hope for the future.
And there are some natural fungi and other predators that are in our environment that seem to be building up when there's a population of spotted lanternfly there. But for the short term, our vineyard managers are out there and they're taking a close look at their vineyards, especially late in the season around harvest and even after the grapes are off because this insect feeds on the sap and it can remove enough of the sap late in the season in the fall that it can weaken the vines and then they might not make it through the winter. And that's what's happened in Pennsylvania. But if they see numbers that are at above threshold numbers of spotted lanternfly, then they'll treat. And there are some effective insecticides that are out there. The good news is because we know about this now, the vineyards are doing well in Pennsylvania. They're treating as needed and we anticipate the same here. But we just need to know about it and the vineyard managers need to scout for it.
Paul Szmal: I would think it's important that we do have that data set from what's happened in Pennsylvania to follow along with because that kind of gives us a little bit more knowledge in how to combat the problem here in New York if it becomes more prevalent than it is now. What is the forecast for that, by the way, Brian? Is it expected to become more prevalent, more well known in the area?
Brian Eshenaur: Yeah, unfortunately, this is an insect that we, you know, early on there was hopes that it could be eradicated and there were a lot of efforts in that regard. But now it looks like it will probably continue through its natural range in North America. And that would exclude some areas in higher elevations where the growing seasons aren't long enough. But here in the Finger Lakes, we expect it to move through. But if we can slow the spread, give more time for us to develop some of those natural management techniques, that that's our goal right now. But unfortunately, it will probably spread.
And right now there are just some hotspots in the Finger Lakes. One is on the west side of Cayuga Lake, right along the lake shore. This insect really likes a tree called the Tree of Heaven. It itself is an invasive species, but it's been here for a century or more in North America. It's also from the native range of where spotted lanternfly is native. And it has leaves that kind of look like a black walnut. But this one, when you crush the leaves, they have a really distinct odor. Some people describe it like peanut butter. But if spotted lanternfly has access to that tree, the Tree of Heaven, which is relatively common throughout the Finger Lakes, it can do a lot better than if it doesn't have access to that.
Paul Szmal: So I take it, it's a two frontal, is it a two frontal attack then where we're trying to get rid of some of these, some of these trees at the same time that we're trying to get rid of the insects?
Brian Eshenaur: That's right. That's right. If we can reduce the numbers of that tree that the spotted lanternfly really likes, it could potentially reduce the number of spotted lanternfly. However, it's not easy to kill the Tree of Heaven. If we just cut it down, it will sprout from the trunks and those surface roots. So it's something where an herbicide, especially this time of year, late in the season when nutrients are going down to the roots, that an herbicide can be taken down with it too. So there's some techniques that can be used. And we have more information on this and spotted lanternfly and photos there on our website. And that's at Cornell, IPM, spotted lanternfly. If you put that in a search engine, it'll pop right up.
Paul Szmal: Okay, beautiful. Brian, thank you for the information on that. Judy, there's one upcoming event that we wanted to talk about for Seneca County, Cornell Cooperative Extension, a food preservation class coming up on September 23rd.
Judy Wright: Yes, thanks for finding time for that. It's exciting. The food preservation classes that our nutrition educator, Chris Ellers, has been presenting along with Master Food Preservers are going quite well. And then on September 23rd, they're doing a food preservation class on everything apples. So if you're interested in making some food products to save into the fall from apples that you buy, that's going to be available again on September 23rd at the Lodi Fire Hall. And that's going to go from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
And registration is required because there is limited space, but they also want to know how many people are coming. So they have plenty of space and also equipment for people to learn how to process apples in the future. So hopefully there'll be more information. I'm not sure. I did not check our website this morning. There should be more information shortly if it's not on the Seneca County website for registration and exactly what all they'll be doing with apples. But yeah, I heard something about applesauce, so that sounded really good to me.
Paul Szmal: Oh, there you go. Absolutely. And by the way, the website SenecaCountyCCE.org is the website you want to check out.
So Brian, Judy, thank you very much for joining us and filling us in this morning.
Brian Eshenaur, Judy Wright: Thank you. Thank you.
Paul Szmal: It is 851 on FLX Morning.
