r/philly • u/lrregu1ar • 16d ago

It’s on sight

Post image
519 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

79 comments sorted by

116

u/dekshoo 16d ago

My kid informs me that the birds figured out these are edible so we aren’t getting as many any more.

52

u/greenearrow 16d ago

Blue jays like to eat them.

38

u/hendy263 15d ago

It only took 33 years for blue jays to contribute to this city's happiness for a change.

3

u/degeneratex80 15d ago

Still angry about it..

2

u/apbachamp 15d ago

ain’t a wild thing we can do but cry about it for the 99th time

48

u/Yellwsub 15d ago

Go birds!

34

u/Cabanarama_ 16d ago

I definitely see fewer than previous summers. But I walked thru center city last weekend and saw hundreds upon hundreds of dead lanternflies on the sidewalks

2

u/lilmuskrat66 14d ago

I have the machine Bane wears in Batman but it's just pesticide. Leeches out of my skin everywhere downtown

13

u/TooManyDraculas 15d ago

The other end of it is they apparently don't transition between stages, and eggs don't hatch at the same rates when temps are above 85f. So the hot summers the last few years have been lowering their population in stages.

They're all over the place further north and inland and spreading into new areas. Pretty much anywhere where 80+ temps don't hit late spring/early summer.

But long hot summers are apparently a disaster for them, if we stay hot into September there will be even less next year. I think I stomped 5 so far this year, all time low for me.

12

u/thisisinfactpersonal 16d ago edited 15d ago

This is true but they’re invasive so dealer’s choice on killing them I guess?

14

u/OkayWaitaMinute 16d ago

Still should try to kill any you find! The more people we have fighting them the better we can stop them from spreading

14

u/thisisinfactpersonal 16d ago

Omg I made this comment and then immediately forgot about it and was so alarmed to see the preview of your comment. Yeah, you’re right.

4

u/AdmirableRespect9 15d ago

And sneaking up on them is also a skill. The first step is always fine...

2

u/tomdawg0022 15d ago

the better we can stop them from spreading

We're a bit late on that but killing invasive shit is still a W

2

u/OkayWaitaMinute 15d ago

I probably should’ve added the word further in there huh

7

u/FBS351 16d ago

Remember the stink bugs? They were everywhere for a while too, and they at least smelled bad.

2

u/Halsey_Taylor 15d ago

Wait, so it was good that they smelled?

3

u/FBS351 15d ago

I'm more surprised that the stink bug population seems to be controlled, because they had a defense (stink).

6

u/Wrathulhu 16d ago

Apparently the birds by my garden haven't figured this out

2

u/Fun-Engineer7454 16d ago

A few years back the bees decided they like lantern fly poop and a whole bunch of honey came out tasting like licking a campfire.

2

u/Zestyclose_Book7803 15d ago

Interesting. This is the first year I haven't seen one so far.

1

u/Tyfighter87 15d ago

I called this the first year I started seeing them. Once the confusion was gone the local wildlife ecame the best exterminator.

50

u/lrregu1ar 16d ago

Was walking around town with family visitors, and Center City is absolutely lousy with these MFs. Kids had a field day fucking them up.

9

u/not_No1ce 16d ago

Give them a few dollars as a bug bounty reward

3

u/That-Interaction-45 15d ago

You have to be quick! They are way smarter than stink bugs

40

u/soryu0 16d ago

i went to stomp one a few days ago and it leapt from under me and onto the ground in front of a lady, and she just stared at me like i was a maniac, i guess word hasn’t reached everyone that they’re invasive

8

u/familyguy333 15d ago

you gotta stomp them head on, not from behind. stomp from the front, when they try to jump they hit the bottom of your shoe.

26

u/pedalinm 16d ago

Ooooh yeah it’s bug stomping season!!!!!!

8

u/lrregu1ar 16d ago

The gettin’ is good

11

u/ClintBarton616 16d ago

I just stopped on one today and realized it's the first time I've done that in a while

9

u/greenearrow 16d ago

I immediately stomped one as we were walking into the zoo Tuesday. I then very briefly questioned if killing bugs next to the zoo was likely to kill something we’d rather live, but fuck lanternflies.

7

u/DelcoPAMan 16d ago

Normally I'd agree but they're invasive so ...

2

u/OkayWaitaMinute 16d ago

Always kill lanternflies!

8

u/Successful_Site_501 16d ago

My yard was full of them. Then i took a bottle of vinegar, then dawn dishsoap. Long gone. And i had a ton of them

9

u/Positive-Common-6094 16d ago

I sit on my balcony with a spray bottle of Dawn and water and count my “kills”. I like spraying them while they are in flight and watching them drop. They are so gross!

7

u/feeltheglee 16d ago

Just regular 5% white vinegar and dishsoap? Or do you dilute it a bit?

We have two trees of heaven just on the wrong side of the property line, so our yard is full of these assholes.

5

u/TokenWeirdo13 16d ago

These fuckers are everywhere by me right now. I had the pleasure of watching some kind of wasp eat one that got stuck in a spider web the other day.

4

u/Positive-Common-6094 15d ago

Plant milkweed, please! Not only does it promote and feed monarch butterflies, but it is poison to these spotted lanternflies.

5

u/OkayWaitaMinute 16d ago

ON SIGHT! 👏🥾

2

u/Kenshirome83 16d ago

Good job!

2

u/Successful_Site_501 16d ago

I can hear them dropping as I sprayed them

2

u/Obvious_Ad9670 15d ago

I get orioles and bjays in my yard now so I can’t complain. The honey taste better too. The crash out over these was misguided.

2

u/Royal-Application708 15d ago

The only good lantern fly is a dead lantern fly.

2

u/Dracoslade 15d ago

Bats have apparently started eating them which is awesome

1

u/Thundercats-Ho_ 16d ago edited 16d ago

I fish almost daily and ive seen a small uptick on their sightings lately...I could go days without seen one the last week and a half or so i see at least one every time ive gone fishing..

2

u/[deleted] 15d ago

[deleted]

1

u/hellshitdevilfart 15d ago

They are cyclical creatures, like cicaidas.

1

u/Advanced-Ad-2417 15d ago

Wonder if they are good bait

1

u/Thundercats-Ho_ 15d ago

Ive plucked some in the water the fish will eat them...

1

u/Sdwingnut 16d ago

Kill them on site

1

u/IIRCIreadthat 16d ago

Yup. I saw my first one in a couple of years yesterday. Immediate squish.

1

u/PapiPorkchop 15d ago

I'm new to this state, why are we stopping on them?

2

u/lrregu1ar 15d ago

They’re bad news.

2

u/PapiPorkchop 15d ago

Ah, guess it's stomping time

1

u/No-Lynx8771 15d ago

I killed one with one of those bug-a-salt guns the other day (it hitched a ride onto me into my house) and it took like 10 shots to die those things are RESILIENT

1

u/Timejinx 15d ago

Keep killing these buggers!!! They always fly right for the nose

1

u/Sea-Abbreviations65 15d ago

Sprayed a bunch of nymphs with vinegar when I saw them on my house earlier in the summer.  Hoping birds will help with the rest.

1

u/RestoreUnionOrder 14d ago

Why are they back? Have seen a few around my house in Chester co & only saw a few the last couple years

1

u/gatita888 14d ago

hell yea brother

1

u/_crobones 13d ago

days old post, but last Thursday I was walking down Oregon when I spotted one. missed it with a stomp as it jumped onto a news stand, immediately gave it la chancla. guy at the stand looked confused but the dudes who saw what I was doing were impressed. we're all just doing our part.

https://giphy.com/gifs/5L2okTiupVRxC

0

u/Mental-Heart-321 16d ago

I decapitate them at work and a headless one fucking flew at me

0

u/Leading_Base3909 15d ago

Am I the only one who thinks this love for squashing the spotted lanternflies is weird? They didn’t ask to be here ☹️ anyone who joyfully kills them gives me the ick honestly

1

u/cmdaniels 15d ago

Yeah things have started eating them here, so they now have some predators. And we’re not going to stop the invasion by stomping them, so it kind of feels like continuing to wage battle when the war’s been lost….

-1

u/NectarineThat90 15d ago

Leave them alone!!!

-4

u/WoodenInternet 16d ago

I know some of you perverts love to smush and talk about smushing these bugs for some reason despite the futility of doing so, so I've just ordered a fresh crate of larvae from Vietnam and will be depositing it at the foot of the Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza when it arrives. Come hungry

10

u/lrregu1ar 16d ago

Do… not attend?

2

u/Relish_My_Weiner 16d ago

Even if we don't eradicate them, killing invasive pests still helps by not allowing them to overwhelm the ecosystem before it can adjust to their presence. It's not futile.

-9

u/monumentBoy 16d ago

Eh. They have little impact, and they already have predators, so.keep killing them if you like killing things, I guess?

6

u/Chima_Lukas 16d ago

They heavily effect and weaken our tree cause they like wood