There is an online course coming up to educate those who are interested in becoming a trained spotter on the lookout for a new and invasive bug that is starting to gain strength in New York.

The Spotted Lanternfly is a bug that can decimate a number and variety of different things including produce grown on farms and even maple trees here in the Western New York area. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation:

First discovered in Pennsylvania in 2014, SLF has since been found in New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, and New York. It was first confirmed in New York State on Staten Island in August 2020. Adult SLF and egg masses have since been found in Port Jervis, Sloatsburg, Orangeburg, and Ithaca. The destructive insect feeds on more than 70 plant species, including tree-of-heaven, and plants and crops that are critical to New York’s agricultural economy, such as grapevines, hops, apple trees, and maple trees.

If you would like to help track this bug, there is an online course that you can sign up for that begins in just a few days.

We recently had to remove a bunch of trees in our yard that were affected by Emerald Ash Borer. Those things are nasty! They have (and continue) destroyed thousands of trees here in Western New York. There are places that are not fields that were once filled with tall and beautiful trees because the Ash Borer was so destructive.

Lets hope we can get ahead of the Spotted Lanternfly and prevent an outbreak here. Our family and local farms are so important to the economy and our food source!

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