CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An invasive pest considered to be a threat to a variety agricultural, ornamental, and hardwood crops was found at a New Hampshire nursery and in two towns in eastern Massachusetts this month.
Two dead specimens of the spotted lanternfly were identified in Milford and Norwood, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources announced Friday.
The flies, which are about an inch long and gray with black spots and red underwings, were brought into Massachusetts on materials shipped from Pennsylvania counties that are under a spotted lanternfly quarantine, WWLP-TV reported.
In New Hampshire, nursery workers and state inspectors killed several adult spotted lanternflies and identified egg masses on red maple trees that came from Pennsylvania, the state Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food said.
Native to Asia, the large, colorful planthopper sucks sap from valuable trees and vines, weakening them.