HARRISBURG, Pa. — Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced March 3 that 12 counties have been added to Pennsylvania’s spotted lanternfly quarantine zone ahead of the 2020 spring hatch.
The new counties are Allegheny, Beaver, Blair, Columbia, Cumberland, Huntingdon, Juniata, Luzerne, Mifflin, Northumberland, Perry and York. With this addition, the quarantine for this invasive pest is now at 26 counties.
The newly quarantined counties are not completely infested, but have a few municipalities with a known infestation. That led to a quarantine being placed on the entire county out of an abundance of caution, the department of agriculture said in a release.
Ruth Welliver, director of the state’s Bureau of Plant Industry, said most of the municipalities have been aggressively treated already. With continued treatment and monitoring, hopefully the spotted lanternfly can be eliminated completely from those areas, Welliver said.
“Whether you think it’s your job or not, we need every Pennsylvanian to keep their eyes peeled for signs of this bad bug – to scrape every egg mass, squash every bug, and report every sighting,” Redding said in a press release.
Businesses that operate in or travel through quarantined counties are required to obtain a spotted lanternfly permit; fines associated with noncompliance can be up to $300 for a criminal citation or up to $20,000 for a civil penalty.
Homeowners with questions about treatment can contact their local Penn State Extension office or learn about management, including approved sprays, online. Pennsylvanians who live inside the quarantine zone should also review and sign the Compliance Checklist for residents. For more information on spotted lanternfly, visit agriculture.pa.gov/spottedlanternfly.
