A summer scourge of Spotted Lanternfly have returned to the Northeast and New York officials and researchers are asking for the public’s help in collecting data and preventing the spread of the invasive species.
Spotted Lanternfly populations were initially detected in North America in Pennsylvania in 2014. In New York, the first flies were detected on Staten Island in the summer of 2020.
Now, officials say the invasive pests have been detected in 29 of New York’s 62 counties…