Weird spotted lanternfly science
Have you ever found yourself flipping through television channels (usually late at night) and stopping to watch something completely strange but fascinating?
That’s what I found myself doing last week when I landed on PCN (Pennsylvania Cable Network), a nonprofit cable station based near Harrisburg. These are the folks who sometimes bring us coverage of the Pennsylvania Legislature and the Farm Show. I sometimes watch their fun business tours of entities across Pennsylvania that are always narrated by the owners or employees. Fun stuff!
This time, PCN was broadcasting taped presentations from something called Ag Pro Days, which I found out stands for Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, held annually during three days in August. This is Pennsylvania’s largest outdoor agricultural exposition with more than 400 exhibitors.
A very pleasant and intelligent lady from the Penn State Department of Agriculture was on TV talking about spotted lanternflies (which I would normally run from), but this caught my attention because she was discussing research on how the pesky invasive pests are impacting Pennsylvania’s wine industry by feasting on grapevines.
Normally, something like this would probably lull me to sleep that late at night, but for some reason I was fascinated. Apparently one year of lanternfly adult feeding didn’t show much impact on Chardonnay or Cabernet Franc grapes, but two years of feeding started to impact the sugar content of the grapes and yield of the vines. Some grape growers sell their fruit for juice, and she said higher sugar content in those grapes is better so that the juice is sweet.
Just as I was losing interest, the scientist grabbed my attention again by explaining an experiment they did on lanternflies. At first, I started laughing and thought I must be dreaming or that this was a joke. But, no. The experiment she described had scientists at Penn State attaching or inserting a little piece of metal wire to the lanternflies that somehow measures the impact of their saliva clogging up the inside of plants as they feed. I know – this is some weird science.
It got even weirder when she explained they can measure this by conducting electricity through the wire. My immediate thought was they could use that to electrocute those little buggers and that would solve the problem. Remember the old bug zappers people used to use on their porches in the summer? Maybe that’s the solution!
The weirdest part of the presentation came at the end, when she concluded by explaining that there is a type of wasp that can kill the lanternflies. Apparently, it’s native to where the lanternflies are from and lays eggs among the lanternfly eggs. What transpires after that must be kind of like what unfolds during the “Alien” movies. I guess the next move is to bring those wasps over here to eat the lanternflies.
Weird science, indeed!
Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.