VIENNA, Md. - The Spotted Lanternfly could be a huge financial burden for places like vineyards and plant nurseries.
The Spotted Lanternfly has recently made its way to Maryland. Including, some counties on the Eastern Shore. The bug was found, as close as Wicomico county. That's close enough for William Layton to keep a close watchful eye over his vineyard. Layton is one of the owners of Layton's Chance Vineyard, in Vienna Maryland.
Layton says, "The main problem with the Spotted Lanternfly is that they just come in such massive volumes. You will kill everything that you have in the vineyard. And the next day, you will have another million of them coming out of the woods. There will be just as many of them there, before you killed what you had out here."
Layton says, there is not much to deter them. "There's not much we can do to deter the lanternfly, before it gets here. Once it gets here, then you have to deal with it. It's one of those things that make it so tough," says Layton.
There could be a huge financial problem if the vineyard is attacked.
"If they come in and devastate our grapes, we have to put just as much work into them whether we get the grapes out or not. So we would lose all that money that we put into it because we still need to produce wine. We would have to go out and buy grapes from somebody else that has them," says Layton.
The Maryland Department Of Agriculture asks you do two things, if a Spotted Lanternfly is seen. They ask that you report the bug, to the state, first. And, kill it.