This resource was created by Von Scully.
In 2014, an unusual, but beautiful insect was discovered in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and it wasn’t long before residents of neighboring counties began to see the same bright flashes of red and spotted wings in their yards and parks.
This insect, the spotted lanternfly (or SLF), Lycorma delicatula, is an invasive species of planthopper that was accidentally introduced to Pennsylvania from Asia and is rapidly spreading throughout PA’s neighboring states: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia (see an updated map on the next page). It only took 5 years for the destructive pests to cross the Delaware River and make it all the way here to Duke Farms; a handful of individual adults were found in summer 2019.
We hope that this lesson plan will allow you to learn not just the facts about these insects, but also how you can help us to protect our native environment!