By Maliah Miskiewicz, correspondent, The Daily Athenaeum
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The invasive spotted lanternfly has established a stronghold in Morgantown, and an expert warns that a major outbreak is only a few years away.
Yong-Lak Park, an entomology professor and lab director at WVU, said the bugs have spread across multiple regions in West Virginia.
“Now we have them in West Virginia, the Northern Panhandle, Eastern Panhandle and Morgantown. …a wave is coming,” Park said.
The first official sighting of the spotted lantern fly in America occurred in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 2014, according to the National Park Service. The first Morgantown sighting took place last year at WVU’s Agronomy Farm, Park said.
The sighting was not considered an established population, meaning the sighting was a singular incident with no evidence of breeding or sustained population, Park said. That has since changed.
“Two weeks ago they were found in Mylan Park. We found a younger stage…They already made mates. Eggs hatched and they already have one cycle, which means more likely they’re established,” Park said. “…You’ll see more and more, because we now have an established population.”
