Effects of temperature on the survival of spotted lanternfly active life stages when held without food

Abstract

Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula White (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), is an invasive Southeast Asian planthopper that was recently introduced into the eastern United States and spreads along human transportation corridors by ‘hitch‐hiking’ on vehicles and cargo. To better understand the risk of establishment when mobile life stages are moved, it is critical to know how long spotted lanternfly mobile life stages will survive without food and water under different temperatures. This work reports on spotted lanternfly first, second, and third instar nymphal and adult survival without food over the 10–30°C temperature range. Survival time without food declined exponentially as temperature increased for all life stages of spotted lanternfly that were evaluated. At temperatures <30°C, first instar nymphs survived longer than second or third instar individuals. Female adults survived about 1 day longer than male adults at all but 10 and 25°C. Without food, 99% of all adults of both sexes are predicted to be dead in less than a week over the temperature range evaluated. First instars, which were the smallest, survived the longest and their survival exponentially decreased as temperature increased. This suggests that more attention to first instar movement may be warranted. The data presented here will provide a basis for assessing the risk of survival of transported spotted lanternfly active life stages along various pathways.