ALERT - Invasive Insect Can Kill JC Trees, Please Be Aware !

Dear Tree Friends,

Please see the ALERT sent to us below by Jersey City’s new Forester Ed O’Malley. Please tune in !

See links below for photos to help you identify the Spotted Lanternfly which has been reported as moving thru NJ with some JC residents reporting sightings. Instructions below.

Jersey City residents have recently reported multiple confirmed sightings of the Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma deliculata) or SLF. The SLF is an invasive insect native to Asia that was introduced into Pennsylvania and is spreading into New Jersey. SLF feeds and lays eggs on crops, fruit trees, and hardwood trees, and eventually colonizes and kills those affected plants and trees. It is imperative that Jersey City stays vigilant in reporting and removing the SLF from our community before it destroys our urban forest.  If you see the Spotted Lanternfly, take a photograph and report it immediately to The NJ Department of Agriculture at 1-833-223-2840 (BADBUG0) and the Jersey City RRC at 201-547-4900. If you see egg masses, scrape them off, double bag them and throw them away. You can also place the eggs into alcohol, bleach or hand sanitizer.  What else? Kill it! Squash it, smash it...just get rid of it. In the fall, these bugs will lay egg masses with 30-50 eggs each.

We have added this information to the City’s website and we currently working on adding it to the kiosks around the city. Please reach out with questions or concerns. If anyone has any ideas to further spread the word please share. 

Attached are links to both the NJ Department of Agriculture and Rutgers SLF pages.

https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/spottedlanternfly.html

https://njaes.rutgers.edu/spotted-lanternfly/

Best Regards, 

Edward O’Malley

Senior Forester - ISA Certified Arborist (NJ 1243A)

Department of Public Works

Division of Parks and Forestry

13-15 Linden Ave East

Jersey City, NJ 07305

201.547.4449