Spotted Lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) are at peak abundance across the…

June 25, 2026Long Island Sound Coastal Lowland

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(Lycorma delicatula) are at peak abundance across the urban core — over a hundred sightings since late March, with adults now feeding heavily on oaks and maples in Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Heights, and Lower Manhattan. The insects have spread from a focus point on Governors Island in late spring to establish themselves in clusters throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan within ninety days.

Their explosive presence here traces back to an earlier invasion. (Ailanthus altissima), which arrived in these neighborhoods in the 1700s as an ornamental, proved to be the perfect host plant for this invasive pest. Now the lanternflies' honeydew coats street trees in a thin film of sticky residue that fuels sooty mold blooms — blackening foliage on the very maples and oaks that neighborhoods have spent years establishing and maintaining. The ecological cost compounds: weakened urban canopy, pest populations exploding where natural predators are scarce, and no easy way to manage the cycle without broad toxin applications.

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