Spotted lanternflies have moved into northern Connecticut and are making their presence known in places like downtown Hartford, where large numbers of the invasive insect can be seen crowding on the ground near the bases of tall buildings.
A.J. King works in downtown Hartford. He said people are disgusted by the large, airborne bugs.
"They fly on me all the time. They whack into me, smack me across the face. I don't like that," King said. "I've seen them fly on kids. I feel like that's gross. And the ground they're on, it's not a clean ground. People spit on the ground around here. I don't want that on my face."
Quinnipiac University biology professor Sarah Lawson said the insects were already present in Northern Connecticut this year, but this month they are far more visible because they became adults and gained a much greater ability to fly.
"They were likely out as nymphs, you just didn't see them as much. The nymphs are also smaller and black, so they're not as noticeable," Lawson said. "The adults are primarily out right now, and they are bigger and they have those bright red wings, so it makes them very apparent."
This time of the summer, the lanternflies are soaring through the air, looking for a place to lay their eggs. Lawson said in Hartford, they might be getting trapped by tall buildings.
The lanternfly population can grow quickly, she said, because there are no natural predators to keep them in check.
The spotted lanternflies were first seen in Pennsylvania. They are expected to continue spreading north in the coming years.
"The data we're seeing out of Pennsylvania is that the population seems to spike, then go down, so they didn't see as much damage to agriculture as they were concerned about early on," Lawson said. "We're hoping that trend continues here in Connecticut."
She said the lanternfly population is peaking right now for this year. If the pattern from Pennsylvania continues, there could also be a large number of lanternflies next summer. After that, they should subside.
"It's also rather satisfying to squish them, so I encourage the public to do as much lanternfly squishing as they possibly can, to help keep the numbers down," Lawson said. "There's no threat to humans."
Lanternflies do not sting or bite, and they do not carry any diseases.
Suanette Noriega, who works in downtown Hartford, said she squishes the bugs when she can. She’s familiar with the lanternflies because she's from New York, where they are already common.
"I don't really get grossed out by insects much anymore, but I find it really nasty when I see them by thousands lined on these buildings here,” Noriega said.
CityPlace and the Starbucks inside appear to be a hub for lanternfly activity.
“They jump on people, and they're drinking their coffee or they have their mouth open and they fly into their face," Noriega said. "I find that really gross."
Connecticut Public investigative reporter Maysoon Khan said she sees hundreds or thousands of the bugs near the bases of downtown buildings, but not in nearby Bushnell Park.
"I just was at Starbucks grabbing a coffee, and you see the flies fly into people, and some people were screaming, some people were jumping and looked really angry," Khan said. " You’ll hear a lot of people just screaming out of nowhere because these lanternflies, they're flying into everyone."
