Since its discovery in 2014 in Berks County, Penn., researchers have tried to slow the spread of the spotted lanternfly. The invasive, hitchhiking pest has been detected in 13 states since that first sighting.
The USDA said in a recent news bulletin that the insect’s proclivity for vibration was discovered by Richard Mankin, an entomologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Fla., and a team of researchers. The Journal of Economic Entomology recently published Mankin’s findings, USDA said.
“There were rumors that lanternflies are attracted to vibrations of buzzing electrical power lines, so we did a laboratory study of nymph and adult responses to 60-cycle [60 hertz] vibrations,” Mankin said in the USDA bulletin. “The rumor proved to be correct! Both nymphs and adults walked towards the source of [the] vibrations.”
USDA said most power lines in North America carry alternating current electricity at a rate of 60 hertz. Mankin said his future research will focus on traps and ways to disrupt mating behavior based on his findings.
