05/11/2026
Those splotches that look like dried mud on your maple tree aren’t mud. They’re spotted lanternfly egg masses — often containing 30 to 50 eggs — laid last fall and set to hatch in the coming weeks.
Spotted lanternfly is one of the fastest-spreading invasive insects in the eastern US. Heavy infestations can cover trees, grape vines, fences, decks, and even vehicles. They feed on plant sap and leave behind sticky honeydew that attracts mold and other pests.
🌿 Where to look this weekend:
- Bottom 6 feet of any tree trunk, especially maple, walnut, willow, and tree of heaven
- Underside of deck railings, picnic tables, wood piles
- Behind house numbers, on fence posts, under outdoor furniture
- Vehicle wheel wells, undercarriages, trailer hitches — they lay on metal too
- Look for a 1 to 1.5 inch smear that looks like dried gray mud or putty
🌿 What to do if you find one:
- Hold a sealable bag underneath
- Scrape with a credit card, plastic putty knife, or stiff stick
- drop the egg mass into rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer to destroy the eggs, then dispose of it according to local waste guidelines.
- Seal the bag and discard in regular trash
- Report the find to your state agriculture department — many states track sightings
- One mass takes ten seconds. Most infested trees carry between five and twenty.
One credit card. One sealed bag. One weekend. Or thousands of nymphs hatching in May 🌿
