Does vinegar kill spotted lantern flies? - Ask Extension
What can I spray on spotted lantern flies to kill them? How can I identify their host trees?
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Does vinegar kill spotted lantern flies? #911576
Asked July 27, 2025, 8:25 AM EDT
What can I spray on spotted lantern flies to kill them? How can I identify their host trees?
Anne Arundel County Maryland
Expert Response
Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) can feed on a very wide variety of plant species. They have a few preferences, like the invasive Tree of Heaven and the native Black Walnut, Red Maple, willows, and grapevines, but in general, they don't have a "host plant" per se the way caterpillars do. They may prefer Tree of Heaven when it's available, but they don't require it for their development.
SLF does not cause significant damage to the plants they're feeding on, with rare exceptions (like vineyards, potentially), so they do not need to be treated. There is no pesticide that only kills SLF without risking harm to other insects. Lower-toxicity sprays that only work on contact and break down quickly, like insecticidal soap and horticultural oil, do not work well or are impractical to use. This is because SLF runs, jumps, or (as an adult) flies away readily enough from disturbance that most of them are not going to be coated enough in the spray to be effected. Sprays that last longer pose a greater danger to SLF predators, pollinators, and other organisms because the residues are indiscriminate and last longer in the environment.
Do not use vinegar to spray lanternfly. Professional-grade "vinegar" (more appropriately called "acetic acid," since it's not edible) is a herbicide and will kill the above-ground parts of plants that it comes into contact with. Household vinegar is too weak to do much and is not a pesticide. Horticultural acetic acid is highly caustic and can be very unsafe to use without proper protective equipment, aside from the fact that trying to use it for insects will cause way more damage to the plants than the insect itself. (This would also probably be using a pesticide for a use not listed by its label, which would violate Federal law.)
SLF has been present in our region for just over a decade now. It occurs in nearly every MD county, and sprays (even if there were something highly selective, which there isn't) would not put a dent in their overall populations and spread. Fortunately, various natural predators are learning to eat them, like predatory insects, spiders, birds, and even bats. In areas where the insect was first detected, populations have already declined, even though they can surge for a few years before getting to that point.
Miri
SLF does not cause significant damage to the plants they're feeding on, with rare exceptions (like vineyards, potentially), so they do not need to be treated. There is no pesticide that only kills SLF without risking harm to other insects. Lower-toxicity sprays that only work on contact and break down quickly, like insecticidal soap and horticultural oil, do not work well or are impractical to use. This is because SLF runs, jumps, or (as an adult) flies away readily enough from disturbance that most of them are not going to be coated enough in the spray to be effected. Sprays that last longer pose a greater danger to SLF predators, pollinators, and other organisms because the residues are indiscriminate and last longer in the environment.
Do not use vinegar to spray lanternfly. Professional-grade "vinegar" (more appropriately called "acetic acid," since it's not edible) is a herbicide and will kill the above-ground parts of plants that it comes into contact with. Household vinegar is too weak to do much and is not a pesticide. Horticultural acetic acid is highly caustic and can be very unsafe to use without proper protective equipment, aside from the fact that trying to use it for insects will cause way more damage to the plants than the insect itself. (This would also probably be using a pesticide for a use not listed by its label, which would violate Federal law.)
SLF has been present in our region for just over a decade now. It occurs in nearly every MD county, and sprays (even if there were something highly selective, which there isn't) would not put a dent in their overall populations and spread. Fortunately, various natural predators are learning to eat them, like predatory insects, spiders, birds, and even bats. In areas where the insect was first detected, populations have already declined, even though they can surge for a few years before getting to that point.
Miri
