Spotted Lanternfly quarantine area expands

The Amity Township Board of Supervisors announced at their Nov. 18 meeting that Amity and Douglass (Berks) townships are now under a lim- ited movement quarantine issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Amity’s quarantine is due to sightings of the invasive pest — the Spotted Lanternfly — on Pine Forge Road and Route 662.

That means that brush, de- bris, yard waste, landscaping, remodeling or construction waste, logs, stumps, tree parts, firewood, grapevines, nursery stock, or crated materials are not to be removed or moved to a new area

Also included in the quarantine are outdoor household articles: recreational vehicles, lawn tractors and mowers, mower decks, grills, grill and furniture covers, tarps, mobile homes, tile, stone, deck boards, mobile fire pits, any associated equipment and trucks or vehicles not stored indoors.

Amity Township’s website has a link to the state’s information about the Spotted Lanternfly, including descriptions and pictures as well as signs and symptoms of the insect that is native to Southeast Asia.

It also includes information about the egg mass scraping program, the tree banding program, how to limit the spread of the Spotted Lanternfly, how to collect a specimen, and then who to contact.

The Department of Agriculture states that the Spotted Lanternfly “has the potential to greatly impact the viticulture (grape), tree fruit, plant nursery, and timber industries.”

Fifteen municipalities in Berks and Montgomery counties are now quarantined. In Berks, the quarantine covers Amity, Colebrookdale, District, Douglass, Earl, Hereford, Longswamp, Oley, Pike, Rockland and Washington townships; and Bally,

Bechtelsville, Boyertown and Topton boroughs.

In Montgomery County, the quarantine covers Douglass and Upper Hanover townships; and East Greenville, Pennsburg and Red Hill boroughs.

Township Secretary Pamela Kisch said Ruth Welliver, plant pathology program manager with the Department of Agriculture, has been the township’s contact regarding the Spotted Lanternfly.

Welliver recommends that residents inspect their

properties for signs of the pest, scrape off any egg clusters from trees, and report findings to 866-2537189.

Kisch said the township office will also have handouts available for residents.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Much of eastern Berks County and parts of Montgomery County area under quarantine after the spotted lanternfly, an invasive pest from Asia, was discovered there for the first time in the United States.