Chipping to destroy egg masses of the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae)

Abstract

A chipping study was conducted during the winter of 2015 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, to determine efficacy against field collected egg masses of the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White) (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae). Infested Ailanthus altissima Swingle (Sapindales: Simaroubaceae) trees in eastern Pennsylvania were felled and egg masses were counted. Sections were either chipped or allowed to remain intact as controls. Chipped material and intact wood controls were placed in screened barrels and monitored for emergence. No L. delicatula nymphs were found in the chipped treatment, as opposed to hundreds of nymphs per barrel in the intact control treatment. We conclude that mid-winter chipping, using the standard 1-inch in 2-dimension chip size, is a quarantine safe mitigation method suitable for treating wood infested with L. delicatula egg masses.