Invasive insect may hitch rides to North Carolina on Christmas trees, officials fear

An invasive species of tree-killing insect may have found a way to eastern North Carolina via Christmas trees, according to officials in Onslow County.

The Onslow County Cooperative Extension is warning people who bought live trees in recent weeks to examine the limbs and trunk for a moth-like creature known as the spotted lanternfly.

It’s also possible some trees are infested with lanternfly “egg masses,” which resemble patches of tan or gray mud stuck to tree bark, officials say.

“There is concern that the spotted lanternfly may have hitched a ride on some trees that came from Pennsylvania and we want to catch this pest as soon as possible if it is in our county,” the cooperative extension posted on Facebook. Onslow County is a coastal county between Wilmington and Morehead City.

Authorities are asking people who find the insects or their eggs to photograph examples and email images to Whitney Swink with the N.C. Department of Agriculture at whitney.swink@ncagr.gov.

The spotted lanternfly, which is a planthopper that’s native to northern China, was first detected in the U.S. in 2014, in Berks County, Pennsylvania, the NCDA reports.

It is considered a threat to fruit trees, maples, oaks, willows and “over 70 species of plant,” the state says.

“This pest damages trees causing them to develop weeping wounds that leave a gray or black trail of sap down the trunk,” NCDA reports. “This sap attracts other insects, such as wasps and ants, and can lead to the formation of fungal mats at the base of trees.”

The adult lanternfly can be an inch long, with yellow and black bands on its body, light gray spotted forewings and red and black hindwings, the state says.

This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Invasive insect may hitch rides to North Carolina on Christmas trees, officials fear."