5 Ways to Protect Your Yard from Fireflies

If you’ve encountered a few or a group of fireflies in your yard, you may need to take extra steps to protect your yard because these invasive pests can damage the ecosystem around them.

We’ve broken down everything you need to know about the spotted lanternfly for the 2024 season and highlighted five effective ways to prevent and eliminate it.

What is a spotted lanternfly?

The spotted lanternfly is an invasive, non-native pest that was first identified in Virginia in 2018. Since then, it has spread across the United States.

You can find spotted lanternflies if you are in one of the following states: West Virginia, Virginia, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Indiana, Delaware, or Connecticut.

Spotted lanternflies have bright red bodies covered with translucent white wings with black spots. They can grow up to an inch long when mature.

Although they are completely harmless to humans, their real damage can be to your property. They eat dozens of different tree species, making small holes in the wood to suck out sap. With enough damage, this can cause significant injury to any tree.

But that’s not all the damage a spotted lanternfly can cause. As they feed, their excretions attract other pests. The excretions also grow fungus. Once a plant has developed fungus, it can have trouble photosynthesizing. The fruit may taste bad, the plant may not grow well, and it is also more likely to fall victim to more pests and plant diseases in the future.

The spotted lanternfly is expected to continue moving westward over the next few years if its spread is not stopped. They are especially problematic because they can move across states quickly. While the United States is doing its best to eradicate as many spotted lanternflies as possible, there are still a few things you can do to prevent these pests from invading your property.

Ready to save your plants from invasion? Here are five proven effective methods for getting rid of spotted lanternfly.

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Soap spray method

To get rid of the spotted lanternflies on the plants they are trying to invade, you can spray them with a mixture of soap and water. The goal is to get as much soap out of the mixture as possible, otherwise they will dry out and continue to attack your plants.

This method is most effective on small, young, and low-growing plants. You can make it more effective on taller plants by using a spray nozzle or hose attachment. Too much soap on your plants can be harmful, so avoid spraying the leaves too often.

Vinegar method

You can also use white vinegar to protect your plants from lanternflies (and other pests). Spraying vinegar directly on lanternflies can also kill them. It is best to spray the vinegar directly without diluting it, otherwise it will not be effective.

Unfortunately, this can harm the leaves of some plants, so check to make sure the plants you are spraying will not be damaged.

Neem Oil

If you want to protect your plants from attracting lanternflies, you can also try using neem oil. Not only is neem oil good for your plants, but many pests also find the smell unpleasant. This will prevent spotted lanternflies and other garden pests from eating your plants.

Remove the Tree of Paradise

One of the main favorite plants that spotted lanternflies target is the Tree of Paradise, or Ailanthus. This plant is commonly found in the same states as the lanternflies, and it is their favorite plant to eat. Believe it or not, one of the favorite ways to get rid of spotted lanternflies is to remove all Ailanthus plants from your property.

In fact, these plants are highly invasive and not native to the United States, so you can get rid of them without feeling guilty.

Search for dragonfly eggs

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture also recommends looking for lanternfly eggs in the fall and winter. They look like gray clumps—or dried mud—on trees. Once you find them, you can scrape them off with a sharp object. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture recommends scraping them into a bottle of hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol to ensure the eggs cannot hatch on the ground.

To learn more about other methods and effective pest control for your plants, you can check out the official website of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Luckily, these methods have all been proven effective against spotted lanternfly.