This is a series of slides showing the Spotted Lanternfly from egg mass through the second instar and the gypsy moth emerging from 2 egg masses in northern Berks County, PA and very southern Schuylkill County, PA.
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Spotted Lanternfly and Gypsy Moth, Spring 2019
1. Spotted Lanternfly and Gypsy Moth
Berks County, PA
Spring 2019
Richard Gardner
rtgardner3@yahoo.com
2. Throughout these slides I include biological markers to serve
as indications of the time of season the photos were taken.
Biological markers are a good indication, (the simplest but not
the best), of when SLF egg masses will hatch and proceed
through different life stages.
3. These slides may be copied and used in talks, publications or
otherwise as long as I am cited as follows:
Richard Gardner, Spring 2019.
85. Appalachian Trail
Rt. 183 south
June 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7, 2019
This is the same tree on five consecutive days. Wild grape is the most
probable food as there are no Ailanthus within the area and wild grape is
attached to this and other trees in the immediate area and I saw adult SLF
feeding on wild grape within 30 yards of this tree last fall.
Therefore, Ailanthus does not appear to be necessary for successful
reproduction, just a high quality food source such as wild grape.
South side of tree.
94. Appalachian Trail
Rt. 183 south
June 7, 11, 12 & 14, 2019
This is the same tree about 50 yards from the earlier
tree with the set of five days. Wild grape is the most
probable food as there are no Ailanthus within the
area, wild grape is nearby and SLF was on wild grape
within 30 yards of this egg mass last fall.
West side of a tree.
99. NOTES
The SLF nymphs appear to hatch at night, stay put throughout the day and then move the next night or so.
The nymphs appear to seek the foliage and new stems of food plants and stay there until changing to adults. I have yet to
see a nymph on the trunk of a tree very long after hatching.
Adults seek the branches and trunks of food sources, not the foliage like the nymphs.
At the Highland Road site, I have seen at least 2 instars of SLF simultaneously.
Hatching appears to be related to heat. Egg masses in sun appear to hatch sooner than those in shade. Egg masses on the
north or shade side of trees may hatch later than those on the sun side. Calculating “degree days” from January 1st of a
given year may be the best way of predicting when an egg mass will hatch and in general when egg masses in a specific area
will hatch. To be a totally accurate predictor, sun exposure of an individual egg mass must be accounted for.
Egg masses appear to hatch as a whole over several days or not at all.
There appears to be a low egg mass hatch rate this year, perhaps 30% or lower, regardless of apparent food source or
substrate egg masses are laid on. I am not sure if this is the normal hatch rate.
I am not sure if there is a hatching success difference between “naked” egg masses and those coated with matrix.
SLF is a phenomenal disperser due to its fast movement and being a nymph as opposed to a caterpillar.
This past couple years has been unusually wet locally with rapid temperature swings . Significant snows each year have
occurred in March. This may be a large factor in what happens with SLF, especially the hatching of egg masses.
100. Gypsy Moth
From field observations beginning when I was fifteen years old around the fall of 1973 to the present it
is apparent to me that the Gypsy moth is a much greater threat to our forests and ecosystems than the
Spotted Lanternfly because the SLF feeds on a limited number of foods and is limited in its habitat, not
penetrating deep forests. The Gypsy Moth is everywhere from deep forests to urban forests and eats
almost every tree that it can find.
101. Appalachian Trail
Rt. 183 south
April 19 – May 3, 2019
There was about a week between the hatching of
the first egg mass and the second egg mass.
