Field report — Speak for the Trees

June 25, 2026

nymphs (Lycorma delicatula) have materialized nearly daily across the river valley from Springfield westward to the Connecticut line this June. Nineteen sightings clustered between June 8 and 21—a narrow, intense window—mark the seasonal surge as the insects move steadily through established corridors of tree-of-heaven, their preferred host.

This invasive planthopper reached the Northeast in 2014 and has methodically colonized every major river system since. Its ecological and economic reach is expanding: the insects are now moving into peak honeydew season precisely when grape and hop growers are most vulnerable. Dense populations can strip foliage wholesale, and their sticky residue fosters sooty mold that suffocates photosynthesis. The tree-of-heaven itself—a prolific weed native to Asia—has become a landscape-wide amplifier of the problem, providing abundant, predictable fuel for lanternfly populations in floodplain zones.

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More about Spotted Lanternfly

Spotted Lanternflies gain foothold in the Piedmont cities

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