Heading to Pennsylvania for your Christmas tree?
Be careful.
An invasive insect in southeastern Pennsylvania called the spotted lanternfly hasn’t been found in New Jersey yet but could travel here in egg cases on infected trees.
First found in 2014 in the U.S. in Berks County, Pennsylvania, it has since spread to nearby counties. It has the potential to greatly harm the grape, tree fruit, plant nursery and timber industries, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
Editor's note: Read more about spotted lanternfly in our September 2017 issue.
Pennsylvania has quarantined a variety of products, including Christmas trees, in 13 southeastern counties in a bid to control the infestation. Christmas trees can be shipped out of the quarantined counties, but only after being inspected by the state and given a clean bill of health.
“We just in the last two weeks expanded from six to 13 counties,” said state Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Fred Strathmeyer, who is a Christmas tree grower in a county north of the quarantine area. “We decided, with the USDA, we’re better served with a broader swipe of the brush.”
He said the pest has been found in the first six counties quarantined but not in the additional seven. But it has great potential to spread there.
Click here to read more from the Press of Atlantic City.
Photo courtesy Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture