Stink bugs?

[Mikew9788]

I'm wholeheartedly against the act of senseless killing of any kind, but certain invasive species do need to be controlled. The brown marmorated stinkbug is responsible for likely millions of dollars of agricultural damage in the US. With no native natural predators and with it's ability to survive the range of temperatures here, it's become an established pest throughout much of the US. Without some degree of control, it's population will only increase and more damage will be done.

The perfect example is the spotted lanternfly. That's a more recently noticed invasive species here (first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2014), and it already has the potential to do at least $18 billion worth of damages. In Pennsylvania alone. So far it seems like these lanternflies are doing more damage and in less time than any previous invasive species in this region in the US. All the counties in PA that they've been discovered in are quarantined and people aren't even supposed to move firewood, brush, nursery stock, grape vines, construction materials/waste, machinery kept outdoors, or any backyard things such as grills, lawn mowers, or furniture outside of quarantined zones. Industries and others looking to move any of these products or materials outside of these zones need to get permits to do so.

Live and dead specimens have started to be discovered in surrounding states and some are now taking heavy precautions to avoid this pest from making its way across state borders.

Sure, some invasive species aren't as serious threats as others, but some are absolutely dangerous and need to be controlled. While I agree that killing it exclusively because it's an invasive species isn't correct (not all invasive species are considered pests, as the term also often includes non-native species that don't do much damage), but I don't think that ignoring it because it's already here in numbers is the right approach either.

Sources on the spotted lanternfly:

http://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Plant...omology/spotted_lanternfly/Pages/default.aspx

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/re...-threat/spotted-lanternfly/spotted-lanternfly

https://entomologytoday.org/2018/02...-report-sightings-invasive-insect-hitchhiker/

https://www.google.com/amp/www.balt...s-lanternfly-invasion-20180208-story,amp.html

A large scale effort to eradicate bugs from crops that affect people's livelihood may have some merit, a single person spearing, or crushing these animals when they have no chance in making any difference is the definition of pointless killing. I do appreciate your well thought out response and it does make valid points.

 

[PidderPeets]

A large scale effort to eradicate bugs from crops that affect people's livelihood may have some merit, a single person spearing, or crushing these animals when they have no chance in making any difference is the definition of pointless killing. I do appreciate your well thought out response and it does make valid points.

A big part of the effort to control the spotted lanternfly is informing and encouraging individuals to destroy any specimens they see, remove it's preferred host plant (the chinese tree of heaven, another invasive species here in the US) if present and when possible, use tree banding to help eliminate them on trees that can't be removed, and especially destroy the egg masses which can contain up to 50 eggs each. A single person taking these actions in their own backyard might not sound like much, but think of all the other "single people" taking the same actions and it could actually be playing a significant role in keeping this pest in check.

All that being said, I do respect your opinion and wholeheartedly understand that you're entitled to that opinion. I just felt like that was some very important information that I needed to share

 

[Mikew9788]

A big part of the effort to control the spotted lanternfly is informing and encouraging individuals to destroy any specimens they see, remove it's preferred host plant (the chinese tree of heaven, another invasive species here in the US) if present and when possible, use tree banding to help eliminate them on trees that can't be removed, and especially destroy the egg masses which can contain up to 50 eggs each. A single person taking these actions in their own backyard might not sound like much, but think of all the other "single people" taking the same actions and it could actually be playing a significant role in keeping this pest in check.

All that being said, I do respect your opinion and wholeheartedly understand that you're entitled to that opinion. I just felt like that was some very important information that I needed to share

I think we just had the first civilized debate in the history of the internet.