Do the spotted lanternfly stomp!
Virginia Tech students help spread the word about the invasive spotted lanternfly with a fun and informative dance routine.
Virginia Tech students created a dance routine to raise awareness of the invasive spotted lanternfly. Photo by Tim Skiles for Virginia Tech.
Catchy music, combined with an important message and a lot of fun, is just one way Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension are spreading the message of the invasive spotted lanternfly.
Students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences dressed the part of the troublesome insect as they acted out the most effective ways to eliminate it:
Stomp it! Squish it! Spray it! Scrape it!
But before eliminating the invasive species, check out Extension's resources on best practices for stomping, squishing, spraying, and scraping the spotted lanternfly.
The video, filmed on Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus, was inspired by an urgent message that has trickled down the southeastern United States: the spotted lanternfly has been spotted, including in Southwest Virginia. It will continue to spread, but with your help, we can mitigate its harm to our crops.
Spotted lanternflies, native to mainland China, prey upon 70-plus host plant species, stealing their nutrients with their piercing snouts, called stylets. They are often characterized as “hitchhikers” for their ability to move long distances through human-assisted movement.
Eric Day, manager of the Insect ID Lab in the Department of Entomology, has been tracking and researching the fly since it first landed in North America in 2014.
He advises all Virginians: “Right now, our message is that if you are in a county that is infested, no need to report it. Only contact Extension if you want control and management advice. In the counties that are not infested, we request a sample to verify a location.”
Unsure if the spotted lanternfly is in your neck of the woods? Check out this helpful map.
