The pest has spread to 13 southeastern counties. Spotted lanternfly battle is on: Can Pennsylvania stop this invasive threat to trees and plants? It is a good idea to treat any trees that are infested with Spotted Lanternflies. Here are 10 Tips that we have gathered to deal with adult lanternflies for homeowners whose properties are about an acre or who have less than 10 or 20 trees. What to Do If You Find Spotted Lanternflies. That substance attracts black sooty mold, which grows on the tree, preventing photosynthesis. Tree-of-heaven can itself be invasive; if you have unwanted trees-of-heaven on your property this may be a good time to consider removing them. Spotted lanternflies attacking trees in region ... no birds, parasites or wasps to attack the spotted lanternfly.“Nothing is killing or hurting them,” Gaskill said. The Spotted Lanternfly is spreading fast and being very destructive. Remove spotted lanternfly hosts, the tree Ailanthus altissima (Chinese sumac or tree of heaven), saving only male trees to use as "trap" trees, since the spotted lanternfly requires a meal from this tree before laying eggs. If you find egg masses, scrape them off, double bag them and throw them away. Penn State Extension has developed information for homeowner management. We are seeing nymphs, adults and egg masses in our area. In addition to weakening trees by feeding on them as nymphs, the adult lanternflies do even more damage. Do I really need to treat my trees for the lanternflies? They excrete a sticky sweet substance called honey dew after they eat, which covers leaves and bark. Spotted Lanternfly can be controlled with a combination of physical removal of life stages and host trees, as well as pesticide applications. What to do? Spotted Lanternflies can kill your trees and it is much less expensive to treat them than it is to replace them. Remaining male "trap" trees should be wrapped with sticky bands starting in early spring to catch any nymphs. Use of these management techniques are important to assist PDA and USDA in control of the spread of this invasive pest. You can also place the eggs into alcohol or hand sanitizer to kill them. What to do?