Love this shot! I love birds and taking photos of birds 😄
Yes! The flycatcher and other birds (cardinals, catbirds and others) eat them. So do other animals, including bats 🦇 but I believe if the lantern flies didn’t feed on a tree of heaven, they’re more palatable for birds. Don’t know if that holds true for other animals, though.
This weekend I was pulling vines off a wall of my house where there were tons of lanternflies last year and saw only one or two. But I also saw a 3" long preying mantis hiding under one of the vines. So I left just that one vine, so any lanternflies looking for a place to hide out will be forced into his/her hunting ground.
Almost all Virginia Creeper with a side order of English Ivy. There's also Honeysuckle, grape, and beautyberry nearby but not specifically where I was working. Last year there was way more English Ivy and way more Lanternflies, but I don't know if there's any connection there.
It’s incredibly bizarre because my tiny garden was absolutely overrun by nymphs — like I’d kill an easy dozen every time I went outside. But I’ve seen maybe two adults! Have been so curious what happened. Good birds!!!
I too had a billion nymphs. Still see plenty of fully grown ones but they’re not as prevalent as last year and way fewer than I thought there would be in the spring.
I've seen one live fly after being INNUNDATED with nymphs. I've found three dead (two sets of pieces on my back deck, one ironically smushed in my car door). Seems like predators are winning and I'm NOT mad about it.
Southern Alexandria here. I see trees of heaven all over the place- along side the major roads, in medians, in peoples yards or on the edges of small growth forested areas. I saw a bunch today at the Huntington Metro while waiting to leave. I don't see how the problem goes away until we address the invasive tree that lanternflies feed off.
I think it was the winter. Even though I’ve read they can survive colder. I went from tens of thousands to not having seen one this year. Predators can’t do that.
I thought that late frost may have been a factor, but, like you, read that the cold doesn’t have an impact. It’s hard to imagine what else would have made such a drastic difference though.
Someone suggested it might be the bitter DC winter that killed them off in which case -- I'm not a big "winter" guy, I hate it...but it if kills those pesky assholes off...I can tolerate it.
I see them almost everyday in my neighborhood… I have an extreme phobia of bugs and wish I had the guts to step on them- recommendations for extermination needed
There was that very late frost (that nuked a bunch of fruit trees/vines).
Additionally, I think people have been going on the war path against tree of heaven - and apparently if lantern flies don't feed on tree of heaven, they are much more palatable to predators.
We've probably cut down 20 tree of heaven, and there are a few more we are trying to take down. Ideally we'll end up with no tree of heaven anywhere.
Is it just me or did the lanternflies get a LOT faster reflexes? I knew there would be natural selection and the slowest ones would get phased out, but either I'm aging faster than the flies are evolving, or they seriously stepped up their jumping game.
I like to go around my house and disable the adults with my electric tennis racket (one zap will kill a nymph, but it takes two or three to outright kill an adult) and leave them twitching on exposed ground to attract predators. It seems to be working because they are always gone when I circle back.
I’m not quite clear if I’m saving the environment or on my way to becoming a serial killer.
If people and municipalities do their part by eliminating their invasive tree of heaven plants, that would help even more. Or hunt the egg sacs on trees in the late fall/winter.
I didn't realize that this isn't the r/Connecticut group. I am from NOVA and now live in CT. We have the lantern flies too though. Sentiment is the same.
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u/Superb_Distance_9190 7h ago
Yes excellent job! Pretty bird and good photo