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The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
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Arboriculture Division – Plant Health Care

Pest Management

SPOTTED LANTERNFLY

Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an invasive sap-feeding insect native to eastern Asia. It was first detected in the United States in 2014 in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

In Maryland, spotted lanternfly was first found in Cecil County in October 2018 and since then it has spread into Harford, Washington, Kent, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Howard, Carroll, Baltimore, and Montgomery Counties as well as Baltimore City. All Maryland residents should be on the lookout for this pest.

Four photos of the life cycle of the Spotted Lanternfly

Visit these third-party websites for additional information on the Spotted Lanternfly:

Emerald Ash Borer

The Emerald Ash Borer, a non-native invasive beetle from Asia, has been detected in Montgomery County. This destructive beetle will take down all ash trees in the county within as few as three years. Montgomery Parks is proactively addressing the issue. The safety of park patrons is the number one priority.

Visit these third-party websites for additional information on the Emerald Ash Borer:

To request more information and/or a presentation to your homeowner association, community group or friends’ group please contact Senior Urban Forester Colter Burkes at Colter.Burkes@MontgomeryParks.org

Plant Health in Parks

Montgomery Parks has long been a leader in innovative, sustainable, environmentally sensitive plant health principles. We follow Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices to address weed, insect and disease pests that threaten the health of our plants, forests and ecosystems. IPM combines many strategies including resistant varieties; sanitation & mechanical control; good nutrition; environmental modification; introduction of beneficial parasitoids and predators; and pesticides when necessary.

We observe nature to thoroughly understand the cycles and interactions between plants, their environment and pest organisms so we can correct imbalances. New pests introduced from other regions of the country or from outside of the US can pose a significant threat to our native plants and habitats because their populations often rapidly increase.

Visit the American Public Gardens Association webpage, if you would like to learn more about plant health threats and how you can be a plant hero.