What happened to all the spotted lanternflies this year? What’s being done to control their future spread and damage? Join Philadelphia-based Friends of the Wissahickon to learn the answers to these and other questions about this unwelcome insect at a virtual Valley Talk on October 12.

Entomology expert Julie Urban, Ph.D will provide an overview of research related to the impacts and management of the invasive spotted lanternfly in Pennsylvania, beginning with its first detection in 2014 up to the present.

Through insights from her own and others’ research, she will share the broad range of interdisciplinary work being done to better manage this insect pest.

A research associate professor in the Entomology Department at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Urban earned her doctorate in Evolutionary Biology from the University at Albany-State University of New York.

She studies planthopper evolution and their co-evolution with multiple bacterial and fungal symbionts. Her recent work involves aspects of basic and applied research on the invasive planthopper Lycorma delicatula - a.k.a the spotted lanternfly.

She has been a member of USDA’s Technical Working Group of scientists, advising management and research on the spotted lanternfly, since it was first detected in the United States in September 2014.

Dr. Urban is the lead principal investigator on a regional United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crops Research Initiative grant studying the biology, management, and impact reduction of the spotted lanternfly in specialty crops in the eastern United States.

This free Valley Talk is sponsored by Prentiss Smith & Company, providing performance-driven, environmentally and socially responsible investment since 1982.

Click Here to register. Participants will receive a Zoom link upon registration.

Visit the Penn State Extension Spotted Lanternfly webpage for more background information.

For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and how you can get involved, visit the Friends of the Wissahickon website.

[Posted: October 4, 2021]

10/11/2021