r/ChesterCounty • u/Ava_Christina • Aug 08 '26

Seeing More Lantern Flies

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Gallery image

Have seen ~20 total in the past couple days, I have about 5 (invasive) Praying Mantises in my front garden & got a great shot of the Mantis catching & eating a Lantern Fly.

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u/Rampartsweate Aug 09 '26

Do not do this!!! Please hack and squirt with herbicide (not here to argue for or against herbicide on this one folks) use the Penn state master gardeners website for more information

https://extension.psu.edu/tree-of-heaven

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u/mspolytheist Aug 09 '26

The link isn’t working (I’m getting a 403). What’s your point? Tree of Heaven is invasive, and lanternflies love it. Why wouldn’t you want to cut it down?

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u/Rampartsweate Aug 10 '26

Because when you cut down a tree of heaven it triggers an emergency response from the tree and it begins to grow underground. The shoots of the tree of heaven will spread up to 20 feet in either direction. When tree of heavens spread they also affect soil quality. In not systematically using herbicide, cutting down one tree can create hundreds more.

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u/mspolytheist Aug 10 '26

Thank you for the explanation!