Good morning, DMV! It’s Thursday, June 18.
Last year, my husband spotted the spotted lanternfly — an invasive species that damages trees and vineyards — on the Virginia creeper vines in our backyard. He pulled the vines, and we didn’t see many for the rest of the summer.
In early May this year, we had more plants covered in lanternflies, so before pulling them, we brought out the industrial vacuum cleaner to hoover up the insects first.
(Alisa Tang)
(Alisa Tang)
A month later, I still spotted the stray lanternfly on my front door each time I went into the house. Not a swarm — as I’ve seen before in the region — but a presence. It’s probably not a popular sentiment, but they’re cute little critters and quite pretty when they grow out their red and white polka-dotted wings.
They do have avian predators: “Northern Cardinals, Gray Catbirds, Blue Jays, and Tufted Titmice were some of the other most-seen eaters,” according to an article in Audubon Magazine.
But I often wonder: Are we fighting a losing battle?
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📰 News around the DMV
Celebrate summer solstice at these fun events around D.C. (Washingtonian)
📷 Your joy
(Catherine Schmidt)
Cathy Schmidt, 78, of Arnold, Maryland, captured this image earlier this month.
“… a yellow swallowtail on our Purple calibrachoa basket next to the hummingbird feeder,” she wrote in her submission.
Her Birdbuddy hummingbird feeder and camera also captured a yellow swallowtail, she said, “actually drinking from the hummingbird feeder! First time I have ever seen that and we have been feeding hummingbirds for many years.”
(Courtesy of Catherine Schmidt)
The summer solstice is this weekend — one of my favorite times of the year. Click here to share your photos of summer fun across the DMV.
Tomorrow is Juneteenth, so I’ll be back Monday. Enjoy the long weekend!
🦋
