Spotted lanternflies don't bite, sting or transmit human diseases. Although considered harmful to some tree species, their degree of danger has not been confirmed in North America. They can't fly far, but are spreading across Pennsylvania as fast as the cars and trucks that unwittingly chauffeur them.
Eight years of county alerts and quarantines, and news reports about the catastrophic coming of Pennsylvania's latest invasive species, were preemptive, designed to educate the public about a potential outcome and protect a thriving grape farm economy in Erie County.
The bugs are growing in numbers and range in Pennsylvania — including swarms of them on Pittsburgh's South Side in recent weeks — but it remains unclear what will happen when they become entrenched throughout the state.
