Spotted Lanternfly spotted in Finger Lakes, how vineyards are reacting

FINGER LAKES, N.Y. (WROC) — A population of spotted lanternflies has been confirmed by the New York State Department of Agriculture in Romulus this week. This is the first such discovery of this invasive pest in the Finger Lakes wine-growing region, and while this news is unwelcome, it wasn’t unexpected and preparations have been ongoing for some time at Cornell and in turn with area vineyards.

For now, the population is small according to Hans Walter-Peterson, a senior extension associate with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of the Finger Lakes, and it will take nearly a year or two to grow to a point it could have a real impact.

“Once you first start to see nymphs like we have now, it takes for at least a year or two for those populations to build up to the point where they become problematic,” said Walter-Peterson.

Lanternflies consume a wide variety of plants, but they prefer woody varieties like trees, particularly a variety known as “tree of heaven,” which is native to where the lanternflies originate and also an invasive species in our region. That taste for woody items also extends to grape vines as well.

“[The] main impact that the lanternfly can have on grapevines is that basically it’s it sucks it feeds on the sap in the plant and so by doing that it basically saps energy from the grapevine so if enough of them are on a Vine they can make it harder for the grapes to ripen completely,” said Walter-Peterson.

As the vines grow weaker they can grow more susceptible to diseases, other issues, and eventually death. This risk is even higher for new non-mature vines like the ones just planted at Song Hill Winery by Owner Connor Gallagher.

“I have 3 acres planted. We have about 1 acre established and then we just put in two new acres,” said Gallagher. “We’re all kind of on high alert. We’re watching. We’re looking for it.”

Matt Cassavaugh, the co-founder of 20Deep a small-scale winery in Mendon, like Gallagher, has just been waiting for this day and is as ready as he can be.

“So it’s been on our radar for years,” said Cassavaugh. “You know there’s always something every growing season that we have to kind of battle through. And I think one of our strengths in the Finger Lakes in general is that we stick together. We work together, we share information and then we have partners like Cornell University that we can also work with.”

At the end of the day, there is a strong level of resilience present in the vineyard community in the wake of this new threat. While this is another concern for many, it will be something they can manage and this is far from the end.

“We will still have wine in New York. We will still have grapes in New York and so this is not. This is not the end of The vineyards and the wineries of the finger lakes. This is just another hurdle we have to figure out how to deal with,” said Walter-Peterson.

During the summer months, the spotted lanternfly is fairly recognizable with most in their adult stage described by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell as: “Adults are about 1 inch long with black-spotted, pinkish-tan wings folded over their backs,”.

You can report sightings of the Spotted Lanternfly to the NYS Department of Agriculture directly at reportslf.com, or you can contact your local Cornell Cooperative Extension office and they can assist you as well. Photographs of the insects are sufficient, and it is recommended that after documenting the insect you kill it so it doesn’t continue to spread further across the region. You can read more about what you can help to do to prevent the spread here .

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