#inVAsives – A Year-long Focus
A new initiative for the Virginia State Extension Master Gardener Program is a Year-long Focus on Invasives! For 2024 you will find this focus theme inter-woven through all state office efforts.
We have already begun weaving this focus through state office efforts. The 2024 microgrant program will focus on providing grants for invasive species projects. Continuing Education efforts from the state office such as Master Gardener College and the Webinar Series will include education on invasive species. Our Social Media outreach will also include features on invasives.
The following state government websites provide lists of Invasive species:
Department of Conservation and Recreation: (https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/nh-invasive-plant-list-2023.pdf)
Department of Forestry: https://dof.virginia.gov/forest-management-health/forest-health/invasive-plants-in-virginia/
Other important sources of information:
Virginia Native Plant Society: https://vnps.org/conservation/invasives/alien-invasive-landscape-plants/
Blue Ridge PRISM: https://blueridgeprism.org/
United States Dept. of Agriculture reference, “Introduced and Invasive Plants Common to the United States”, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/Environ-Cultural/appendixe.pdf
You will see the use of the hashtag #inVAsives as well as our graphic shown above.
Information on the SLF in Virginia is found on the following websites:
- https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/plant-industry-services-spotted-lanternfly.shtml
- https://ext.vt.edu/agriculture/commercial-horticulture/spotted-lanternfly.html
- Information about residential control of the spotted lanternfly is available at https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/ENTO/ENTO-322/ENTO-322.html
- The VCE publication about Best Management Practices for Spotted Lanternfly in Yards and Landscapes is available at https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/ENTO/ENTO-344/ENTO-344.html
Recent article published by Virginia Tech: Now entering their adult phase, spotted lanternflies are headed into their invasive peak | Virginia Tech News | Virginia Tech (vt.edu), by Marya Barlow
Starting in mid-July, adult spotted lanternflies grow wings to invade new territory and hitchhike aggressively. Learn how you can help prevent the spread.
While there have been no confirmed sightings of the spotted lanternfly in the Northern Neck, be careful when traveling to the quarantine portions of Virginia and other states where the spotted lanternfly has been confirmed. The spotted lanternfly is a hitching bug and can easily move from one area to another on vehicles or materials.
New York State Integrated Pest Management Interactive Spotted Lanternfly Map shown below is found on the following website:
https://lookerstudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/b0bae43d-c65f-4f88-bc9a-323f3189cd35/page/QUCkC
The picture shown below is not interactive but it does show the progress of the Spotted Lanternfly moving south.
