do spotted lantern flies die in the winter
Beginning in late April to early May, nymphs hatch from their egg cases. A nymph passes through several immature stages. In the first stage it is wingless and looks black with white spots. It then grows red patches in addition to the white spots. Next, it has red wing pads and a red upper body, before assuming the adult look of black head and grayish wings with black spots. Nymphs cannot fly, so they hop or crawl to search for plants to feed on. Young nymphs appear to have a wider host range early on, which narrows as they grow older. As early as July, adults can be seen. In the fall, adults mate and lay eggs from late September through the onset of winter. In their native Indomalayan habitat they will lay their eggs preferably on the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), which is an introduced invasive tree with toxic metabolites. This host choice is thought to have evolved as mechanism of protection from natural enemies. The lanternfly will lay eggs upon any smooth trunked tree, stone or vertical smooth surface, including man made items like vehicles, campers, yard furniture, farm equipment or other items stored outside. The egg masses contain 30-50 eggs, covered in a yellowish brown waxy deposit, the egg case. The lanternfly's life expectancy, is one year.
Spotted lanternfly