The spotted lanternflies are now widespread in Maryland. (We have a lot of them here at our Howard County office for the first time this year too.) They have not been causing any major damage to garden and landscape plants (except for grapes). They are mainly a nuisance pest in residential areas. If you want to do something to try to reduce their numbers around your home, we recommend using physical removal methods -- stomping, crushing, and hand-vacuuming any you can easily reach, or setting up a circle trap to catch them. Drop any reachable ones into a container of soapy water or rubbing alcohol. Our page on Spotted Lanternfly Management offers several options. The use of any insecticide on them is discouraged, as it may harm beneficial insects and spiders that are beneficial in their natural management. Spiders, mantids, assassin bugs, and birds are some of their main predators.

Christa