Category Archives: Spotted Lanternflies

Seen This Week: Insects and the Scarlet Pimpernel

Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi, Spotted Lanternflies
Spotted lanternfly at Herrs Island back channel, 3 August 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

8 August 2026

Spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) became more abundant this week but are still just a handful compared to 2023. In fact I had to go looking for them.

At the Herrs Island back channel on 3 August my experience was: “I found you, spotted lanternfly!” instead of three years ago: “Ewwwww! Yuk! So many spotted lanternflies!!”

The bug at top landed on the bike trail and was buffeted by passing bicycles. Another perched near this year’s favorite host plant — invasive grapevine. They don’t seem to be using the Ailanthus trees as much. Perhaps they sucked them dry.

Spotted lanternfly, Herr’s Island back channel, 3 August 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

My favorite bug of the week was this leaf-footed bug that landed on my window. I usually see them as silhouettes but this time he started low enough that I could see his colors and his eyes. Way cool!

It’s been seven years since I saw a scarlet pimpernel in Pittsburgh. This one was growing among the grass on the Cathedral of Learning lawn.

Scarlet pimpernel on CL lawn, 6 August 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

Why is the flower’s name so familiar?

It is the title of a 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel by British author Baroness Orczy.

Within the novel: Calling someone a scarlet pimpernel means they live a double life, acting silly or unimportant in public while secretly doing brave, clever, or heroic work behind the scenes. It also describes someone who is very hard to catch, find, or pin down.

— Google AI search for the term scarlet pimpernel

Seven years between sightings must mean the flower is hard to find. But then, I don’t go looking for it.

Where Are The Spotted Lanternflies Now?

Spotted Lanternflies
Spotted lanternfly adult at Herrs Island backchannel, 25 July 2025 (pohto by Kate St. John)

29 July 2026

This week usually begins the peak of Pittsburgh’s spotted lanternfly season but I’ve seen only two red nymphs and two winged adults despite actively looking for them. What a relief that the invasion we experienced in 2023 is gone!

In fact spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula, SLF) have moved on to new territory where they are horrifying a whole new set of people. This summer the frontlines are in Connecticut/Rhode Island/Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, Atlanta area, northern Kentucky + Cincinnati and Tennessee.

By comparing Before and After we can see those frontlines on Cornell IPM’s spotted lanternfly county status maps –> July 2025 and May 2026.

At the height of their invasion in Pittsburgh we thought they’d never go away, but they do. In August 2023 I looked into the invasion experience in eastern Pennsylvania where they were first found in North America. People were amazed that the surge ended after a year or two. My guess at the time was that our experience would be a bell curve.

Spotted lanternfly invasion appeared to be a bell curve with maximum at 2-3 years (guesstimate by Kate St. John in August 2023)

The reality was even better than that, at least in Pittsburgh.

We first noted spotted lanternflies around 2020 and they took a few years to ramp up. The huge invasion year was 2023, then they tapered in 2024. Last summer they were hardly noticeable. This summer they’re hard to find so far.

Spotted lanternfly invasion appears to be a bell curve with maximum at 2-3 years (guesstimate by Kate St. John in Aug 2023)

So take heart if you’re on an SLF frontline this summer. Their invasion will not last forever. You’ll have one, maybe two summers of this nonsense and life will return to normal.

Read more about their timing in This Too Shall Pass.

Find out about their predators in Look Who Eats Spotted Lanternflies!

p.s. I don’t know about the year-upon-year experience of spotted lanternflies in vineyards where they are truly a pest. Do they ebb and flow? If you know, please leave a comment.

Yesterday at Duck Hollow, 26 July

Plants & Fungi, Spotted Lanternflies
Pokeweed flowers opening, Duck Hollow, 26 July 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

27 July 2026

Yesterday the river was a running high and the birds were subdued when three of us joined up for the Duck Hollow outing. Even so we had some good sightings.

Best Bird was a surprise –> a singing yellow-throated warbler (Setophaga dominica) which we could hear but not see in the thick leaves. We were amazed it was singing at the end of July.

From a distance I saw splashes in the river that looked like a school of fish surfacing. It was a flock of chimney swifts drinking from the river and perhaps bathing in flight by splashing their bellies in the water.

We noticed that some Canada geese have completed their wing molt and are able to fly. The flightless geese called to them from Duck Hollow.

We found pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) in bloom (above) and evidence that deer are eating it (below). Pokeweed is deadly poisonous to humans but not to deer. With careful collecting and cooking we humans can eat pokeweed in the Spring but it’s too late now in July. See West Virgina Public Broadcasting’s Edible Mountain Pokeweed video.

Pokeweed eaten by deer, Duck Hollow, 26 July 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

Common burdock (Arctium minus), nature’s velcro, is blooming now. The intricate flowers attract bees and other pollinators.

Burdock flowers not quite open and full flower, Duck Hollow, 26 July 2026 (photos by Kate St. John)

Spotted lanternflies have not reached the pest stage (yet?). Yesterday we saw just two red instars and one winged adult. It’s been three years since we were plagued with them in 2023.

Spotted lanternfly last instar, Duck Hollow, 26 July 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

Look at this! A voracious bug has been eating Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) leaves. Does anyone know what bug this might be?

Japanese knotweed leaves eaten by insect, Duck Hollow, 26 July 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

In 90 minutes we tallied 20 species. The day was warming up so we went home.

Duck Hollow, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Jul 26, 2026 8:30?AM – 10:00?AM
20 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 15 Some were still flightless due to wing molt.
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 25 All males in eclipse plumage
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 3
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) 14 flock drinking from the river
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) 2
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 2 second individual may have been juvenile
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 1
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 3
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) 1
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 7
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 9
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 2
Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) 1 Amazed to hear it singing.
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 9
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) 2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S376678053

Seen This Week: Beauty, Bugs and Urban Deer

Deer, Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park, Spotted Lanternflies
Bumblebee at obedient plant, 23 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

27 June 2026

This week I was in Blair and Allegheny Counties where I found late June flowers, busy insects and urban deer.

Beauty

Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), at top, attracts many pollinators. It’s called obedient plant because if you move an individual flower to the side it stays in place.

Enchanter’s nightshade (Circaea sp.) started blooming at the summer solstice in Schenley Park.

Enchanter’s nightshade, Schenley, 26 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

American germander (Teucrium canadense) is blooming at the Herrs Island back channel.

American germander, near Herr’s Island, 24 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

On 21 June we had a beautiful morning birding the Lower Trail at Mt. Etna Station in Blair County. Before the day heated up, mist rose from the damp wooden railing on the pedestrian bridge over Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River.

Mist rises from a damp railing on the Lower Trail at Mt. Etna, 21 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Bugs

Also on the Lower Trail a bug floated down from the trees. We caught and examined it, only to find it was the exoskeleton of a mayfly.

Mayfly exoskeleton, Lower Trail in Blair County, 20 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

On that same day back in Pittsburgh John English saw his first spotted lanternfly. 3rd instar.

Spotted lanternfly, Homestead, 20 June 2026 (photo by John English)

In 24 June I visited the Herrs Island back channel where I reliably find spotted lanternflies in the summer. There weren’t many but at least one was already in the final instar … the red one.

Two instars of spotted lanternfly, Herrs Island back channel, 24 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Spotted lanternfly 3rd instar, Herrs Island back channel, 24 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Spotted lanternfly 4th instar, Herrs Island back channel, 24 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

The 4th instar will transform into a winged adult. This is only a matter of days away …

Spotted lanternfly stages, from nymph to adult (image from Wikimedia Commons)
Urban Deer

The deer in my urban neighborhood don’t care about people and cars. On 20 June my husband photographed a limping doe.

Limping deer in Shadyside, 19 June 2026 (photo by Richard St. John)
Limping deer in Shadyside, 19 June 2026 (photo by Richard St. John)

And on 24 June my neighbor pointed out a doe and buck resting behind the retaining wall at Neville House. The buck is well hidden from my location. You can see the doe’s resting legs, her body and the back of her head.

Doe and buck sleeping behind the wall at Neville House, 24 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

Click here to see them wider photo for context.

Top Predators of Spotted Lanternflies

Insects, Spiders, Spotted Lanternflies
Spotted lanternfly in Pittsburgh, 23 July 2022 (photo by CBailey via Wikimedia Commons)

5 September 2025

Right now adult spotted lanternflies are flying to find each other and their host plant, Ailanthus, to mate, lay eggs and die. In Pittsburgh we had a major invasion in 2023 from mid August to mid September but they’re not so bad this year, as expected based on their initial North American invasion in Eastern Pennsylvania. There is more to learn from that initial invasion including lists of their top bird and insect predators.

#1 Bird: Chickens! Backyard chickens eat a lot more than grain and are known to gobble up spotted lanternfly nymphs when they find them. The nymph phase ran from June to late July in Pittsburgh this year.

Chickens foraging (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Wild Birds: Plenty of birds have figured out that spotted lanternflies are good to eat including visiting warblers. The top predators, however, are resident birds and one migratory species that leaves for the winter, shown in the slideshow below. All of them catch both nymphs and adults: Northern cardinals, gray catbirds, blue jays and tufted titmice.

Birds that are Top Predators of Spotted Lanternflies in Pennsylvania according to PSU study

Top Insects: In March 2025 Penn State Agricultural Sciences published a study on predatory insects that eat spotted lanternflies. They found a new-to-me top predator, the spined soldier bug.

We then tested 10 commercially available or easily field-collected generalist predators to determine if these potential biological control agents could reduce L. delicatula populations. Spined soldier bugs (Podisus maculiventris), Carolina mantids (Stagmomantis carolina), and Chinese mantids (Tenodera sinensis) were the most effective at reducing prey populations, indicating they have promise as effective natural control agents.

— Springer Nature Link: Predation of spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) by generalist arthropod predators in North America

Spined soldier bugs (Podisus maculiventris) are native insects that resemble brown marmorated stink bugs from Asia, except that these eat insects not plants. They’re called soldiers because they gather in groups to attack and kill their prey. Awesome!

Here’s an adult. Notice the resemblance to the stink bug.

Adult spined soldier bug, native to U.S. (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

And here’s a nymph eating a caterpillar.

Nymph spined soldier bug eating a caterpillar (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The next most effective insect predator of spotted lanternflies is the Chinese praying mantis (Tenodera sinensis) which naturally recognizes their fellow Asian insect food.

Chinese praying mantis in PA (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Read more about insect predators at Penn State’s Natural insect predators may serve as allies in spotted lanternfly battle.

The Cleveland area may find this news quite useful as they are swamped with spotted lanternflies this month.

Seen This Week: Someone Ate Crow & Other Wonders

Bird Behavior, Crows & Ravens, Plants & Fungi, Spotted Lanternflies
Someone ate crow near Heinz Chapel, 22 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

23 August 2025

This week someone ate crow near the Cathedral of Learning. I usually find pigeon feathers but yesterday I found a pile of crow feathers under a tree near Heinz Chapel. Who would have perched in a tree to eat crow? My guess is a red-tailed hawk. The peregrines prefer to eat high up on the Cathedral when they’re this close to home.

In other news, late summer flowers are blooming and late summer bugs are busy.

These gorgeous flowers are the reason why Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) was imported as an ornamental plant. (Hmmm, the scientific name has changed?)

Japanese knotweed in bloom, 17 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Up close Indian tobacco (Lobelia inflata) shows tiny dots on the edges of its leaves, below.

Wikipedia explains: The plant is called Indian tobacco because Native Americans chewed and smoked the leaves and used it for respiratory and muscle disorders, as a purgative, and as a ceremonial medicine. Its purgative property gave it a second name: puke weed. “Consuming lobelia causes adverse effects, which may include sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, rapid heartbeat, mental confusion, convulsions, hypothermia, coma, or possibly death. The root is toxic and can be fatal if eaten.”

Indian tobacco, Frick Park, 18 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Ragweed (Ambrosia sp) was getting ready to bloom this week. Soon it will open and scatter its copious pollen on the wind. Maybe it has already but my nose never tells me. I am not allergic to ragweed, but don’t get me near hay.

Ragweed almost ready to bloom, 17 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Spittle bugs are very busy lately. Why was this yellow jacket sipping from the spittle? Or was she sipping plant juices? Or was she eating the bugs?

Yellow jacket ?sipping? at a spittlebug site, 17 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

In summer 2023 when Pittsburgh had a spotted lanternfly plague, this building was one of the best places to find an infestation. Back then it was creepy how many lanternflies crawled up the foundation. This year the number is low. Only 8 in this photo , circled.

Spotted lanternflies climbing a building near Herrs Island, 17 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Spotted Lanternflies Crowd a Peregrine in Ohio

Insects, Spiders, Peregrines, Spotted Lanternflies
Peregrine falcon, “Luna,” can’t believe there’s a bug on her foot, 20 Aug 2025, Rocky River, Ohio (photo by Chris Saladin)

22 August 2025

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen a plague of spotted lanternflies in Allegheny County this year. At this time in August 2023 they were everywhere, but not now. At least, not yet.

Spotted lanternflies in the City of Pittsburgh, 21 August 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

The plague has moved northwest. Spotted lanternflies are overwhelming the Cleveland area right now — so much so that they even climbed up a peregrine’s foot while she was minding her own business in Rocky River. (picture at top; yellow circle around the bug)

Chris Saladin captured photos of the bugs crowding “Luna” as she perched on a lightpost. When she opened her wings to fly there was one on her wing! Ewwww.

Peregrine with spotted lanternfly on her wingtip, 20 Aug 2025, Rocky River, Ohio (photo by Chris Saladin)

Luna went airborne and so did the bugs.

Bird and bugs fly at the same time, 20 Aug 2025, Rocky River, Ohio (photo by Chris Saladin)

These are probably the First Ever photos of the simultaneous flight of peregrine falcon and spotted lanternflies.

Peregrine escapes the lanternflies, 20 Aug 2025, Rocky River, Ohio (photo by Chris Saladin)

Fortunately, in the year after a spotted lanternfly plague their population tapers considerably. There’s hope for summer 2026 in Rocky River.

Summer Horror Film

Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi, Spotted Lanternflies
Spotted lanternfly red nymphs, Herrs Island back channel, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

27 July 2025

On a walk at Herrs Island back channel this week (Millvale side) I was on my usual route down the boat ramp when a bug dropped on me. It was red, black and white like the ones pictured above. Ewww! The Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima) tree above me was crawling with red nymph spotted lanternflies  (Lycorma delicatula).

Below the tree I found a mob swarming on a retaining wall.

Crawling with spotted lanternflies, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

And they didn’t sit still. Creepy crawly horrors!

Swarm of red nymph spotted lanternflies, Pittsburgh, 25 July 2025

This week must have been the peak of red nymphs at the Allegheny River Trail for I saw only 5 winged adults.

Adult spotted lanternfly, Herrs Island back channel, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Imagine when all those nymphs turn into adults. Clearly the worst is yet to come along with more summer horror films.

Seen This Week: Berries and Bugs

Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi, Spotted Lanternflies
Ripe wineberry and berry-is-gone stems, Frick Park, 9 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

12 July 2025

This week we found berries and bugs in the city parks.

Wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius) are very prickly invasive plants with bright red berries sticky to the touch. Good luck plucking the berries. The entire plant, including sepals, is covered in needle-like thorns that make it difficult for birds and animals to get at the fruit. The only thornless spots are the yellow-orange stubs left behind where berries came off (above).

Ripe wineberry, Frick Park, 9 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

July is definitely bug season.

Every year I’m amazed at how many aphids cling to the false sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) in Schenley Park. Sometimes I find ants guarding the aphids though not yet. However …

Aphids on false sunflower in Schenley Park, 11 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

… this closeup of the flower reveals two insects and a yellow critter. A spider?

Closeup of false sunflower, insects and maybe a yellow spider, Schenley Park, 11 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

This week I saw a lot of red nymph spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula), the last stage before they become adults. I expect the adults to start flying next week. I’ll miss seeing the first ones while I’m away on vacation, but they’re sure to “greet” me when I return.

Spotted lanterfly last-stage nymph on stiltgrass, Frick Park, 9 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Seen This Week: Flowers and the First Spotted Lanternflies

Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park, Spotted Lanternflies
Foxglove beardtongue at Aspinwall Riverfront Park, 12 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

14 June 2025

It was a good week for flowers and insects though some of the species are unwelcome.

In Schenley Park, three plants that do well in poor or disturbed soil were in full bloom.

  • The single flowers of mouse-ear hawkweed (Pilosella officinarum) brightened the top of the tufa bridge at Bartlett.
Mouse-eared hawkweed, Schenley Park, 13 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

In April a DPW backhoe scraped the north side of Panther Hollow Lake in Schenley Park and produced lots of disturbed soil. Soon the area was covered in plants that love this habitat including:

  • Black medick or hop clover (Medicago lupulina) was brought to North America as forage for livestock and escaped into the urban wild.
Black medick a.k.a. hop clover, Schenley Park, 13 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
  • English plantain, also known as ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata), was brought from Europe to North America for its medicinal use.
Ribwort plantain a.k.a. English plantain, Schenley Park, 13 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

On Thursday I visited Aspinwall Riverfront Park which now has two names — at least in my head. In 2021 it was renamed “Allegheny River Trail Park” but signs at the entrance did not change until fairly recently. The eBird hotspot is still called Aspinwall Riverfront Park.

The meadow by the river is filled with foxglove beardtongue, shown at top. St. Johnswort is attracting bees along the bike trail.

Bumblebee on St. Johnswort, Allegheny River Trail at Aspinwall, 12 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Speaking of insects, I saw little black and white ones running on a retaining wall behind the Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Tuesday. Uh oh!

Spotted lanternfly nymphs behind Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 10 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

I should not have been surprised to see spotted lanternfly nymphs (Lycorma delicatula), but I was.

Spotted lanternfly nymph behind Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 10 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

If you want to see a spotted lanternfly, visit one of these infested counties. Welcome to [most of] Pennsylvania.

Spotted lanternfly distribution as of 29 May 2025 (map by Cornell IPM via New York State Integrated Pest Management)

Updated on 29 May 2025 by Cornell IPM and New York State Integrated Pest Management. Click on the map or the caption to see the latest data.