‘Parachuting’ Spiders, Stink Bugs, More Spring Insects In NJ

NEW JERSEY — Spring brings lots of welcome sights. Flowers. Birds. Bunnies and other wildlife.

There are also unwelcome visitors: bugs. We've been hearing about the parachuting spiders that scientists say could soon spread up the Eastern Seaboard, and warnings urging New Jersey residents to scrape away spotted lanternfly eggs have been going out. Along with those, it's the annual invasion of those lovely little stink bugs.

Creatures with six or eight legs are crawling out of somewhere at this time of year, and some of them have the potential to become bona fide cult heroes in the insect and arachnid worlds, like 2020’s murder hornets and 2021’s periodic cicadas that did the thing — c’mon, you know what thing — until their butts fell off. We had cicadas for lunch, too. (Sorry/not sorry for the juxtaposition.)

The 2022 Freak-Out Bug

This year, people are freaking out about the 3-inch Joro spider that dropped into sight in Georgia in 2013. And why not? They’re huge, jumping spiders with a unique ability to “parachute” to new locations by using their webs to “ride the wind” to other locations.

Freak out in the best possible way about these. Spiders are good little (if little can be used to describe such a giant of its species) critters. Superb predators, arachnids are a biological weapon against other insects and pests around the house, yard, garden and crops.

The bottom line: Learn to live with Joro spiders. They’re not doing any harm, says Andy Davis, one of the authors of the study predicting their spread up the East Coast and a research scientist at the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology. They do no harm and may even serve as a food source for birds. “The way I see it,” said study co-author Benjamin Frick, an undergrad, “there’s no point in excess cruelty, when it’s not needed.”

“You have people with saltwater guns shooting them out of the trees and things like that, and that’s really just unnecessary,” he said.

Snuff Out The Lantern

The spotted lanternfly has become an annual problem in New Jersey, with the calls to kill beautiful-to-look-at but extremely destructive planthopper starting earlier and earlier.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture is urging residents to be on the lookout for the egg masses of the bug, which are often laid on flat surfaces including tree bark, rocks, lawn furniture, firewood, boats, RVs, pallets or anything left outdoors.

The egg masses are about an inch long and contain 30 to 50 eggs, and look like gray or light tan cracked mud. Egg masses on trees are often 10 feet up or higher, but masses on other items can lead to the bug being transported elsewhere.

The spotted lanternfly feeds on the sap from more than 70 plant species, including grapevines, maples, black walnut, and it has a strong preference for economically important plants. "The feeding damage significantly stresses the plants which can lead to decreased health and potentially death," state officials say.

It also shows a preference for the "tree of heaven," an invasive tree that is common throughout New Jersey, state officials said.

If you find an egg mass on a tree or other surface, scrape it off with something flat and smash the eggs as you scrape. Put the mass in a bag (and even double bag it) to prevent the eggs from hatching.

The bottom line: Familiarize yourself with the life stages of the insect and when in the season to look for them. Descriptions and photos of each stage are available here. And kill every one you find, at every stage of its life.

Become A Backyard Stink Bug Warrior

The brown marmorated stink bugs that sneaked into your house last fall are preparing to leave and replenish their species. It’s tempting to let these jerks leave just as stealthily. (Stink bugs can rightly be called jerks because, once outside, they’re free to satisfy their voracious appetites by chewing through fruit groves and ornamental plants.)

In New Jersey, stink bugs do more than stink up your homes: the state is among 21 in the country where it is causing significant agricultural and nuisance problems. They attack vegetable crops and are a problem for fruit growers in New Jersey as well.

When you see them in your house at this time of year, be careful. Be very careful. Vacuum them up or sweep them right out the door if you have to, but do so as surreptitiously as possible because, when frightened, stink bugs emit a smell that will frighten you.

If you do vacuum stink bugs, be sure to replace the bag immediately. If you have a bagless model, rinse the dust canister with vinegar.

The bottom line: Become a backyard stink bug warrior. Capturing them in commercially available traps is one option, but there are several environmentally sound ways to tell them to bug out.

The Farmers’ Almanac points out that garlic repels stink bugs. They also don’t like mint — crush some dried mint around where you see them congregate; but mint is invasive, so be careful about where you plant it. Sunflowers and marigolds attract beneficial insects that enjoy a buffet of stink bug eggs and larva. Sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth under and on leaves of all fruits and vegetables resting on the ground. Or just make an anti-stink-bug potion with mild, soapy water made from dish dishwashing liquid, and spray it directly on the bugs.

Out For Blood

Also awakening at this time of year are all manner of insect species — some you’ll be happy to see, but others that are a nuisance or could outright kill you, or at least make you very sick.

Let’s talk ticks.

If spring is as rainy as forecasters predict in New Jersey, expect an abundance of these bloodthirsty insects and, subsequently, tick-borne illnesses, such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and a few others.

• Related: Dangerous But 'Rare' Deer Tick Virus Found In More PA Counties

Tick bites requiring ER visits are most common in the Northeast, accounting for 103 of every 100,000 emergency department visits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That includes New Jersey, where tick bites are a serious concern because of Lyme disease.

Lyme disease, spread by the blacklegged tick, also known as the deer tick, has been a perennial problem in New Jersey. The state reported 2,400 confirmed cases and 1,219 probable cases of Lyme in 2019, the most recent data available, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The state has been near the top in the number of Lyme cases for years. Untreated Lyme disease can produce a range of symptoms, including fever, rash, facial paralysis, and arthritis, and can start showing up as soon as three days after a bite. Long-term Lyme can cause more debilitating problems that scientists are still trying to understand, according to the CDC.

The bottom line: Protect against tick bites with anti-tick repellants for humans and pets. Chemical lawn treatments offer some protection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, but shouldn’t be considered your only line of defense against ticks. Landscaping, keeping the lawn neat and trim, and discouraging ticks hosts — such as deer, raccoon and stray dogs — go a long way toward keeping ticks at bay.

If you have opossums in your area, and many places with the type of habitat that attracts ticks in abundance, they’re your friends. These marsupials devour ticks at an amazing rate; however, a 2021 study threw shade on the myth that opposums like ticks. They are fastidious groomers, and eat them almost by accident as they’re cleaning themselves up after ambling around the woods looking for something more delicious. Opossums eat worms, insects, rodents and such, but also berries, nuts, grains and, maybe, your vegetable garden.

Let It Bee

On the friendlier side of the insect world, queen bees will be looking for a quick meal in your flowers. They’re important pollinators. In fact, bees pollinate 75 percent of the food consumed by humans worldwide, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

Honeybees are in trouble. Their populations are declining around the world, and it’s up to us to do something about it. When you’re planting your garden or landscaping this year, lean into plants that encourage bees.

Here’s a fun fact: Bees see color and love yellow, purple, blue and white flowers, making echinacea, snapdragon, hostas and wildflowers excellent garden choices, according to Country Living, which has a list of 20 flowering plants bees love.

At least 28 states, including New Jersey, have enacted laws to save pollinators, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The laws generally fall into five categories: research, pesticides, habitat protection, beekeeping and public awareness.

New Jersey has two laws that have been enacted in the last four years. In 2018, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law to require pesticide applicators to notify beekeepers when they are applying pesticide within 3 miles of a registered honey or native beehive or beeyard. Beekeepers register their honey or native beehives or beeyards with the state DEP every year.

In January, Murphy signed a law to ban most outdoor non-agricultural uses of harmful neonicotinoid pesticides. An outpouring of scientific evidence points to neonics as a leading cause of bee losses as well as threatening birds, and other wildlife.

The National Resources Defense Council called the law "landmark legislation (that) makes New Jersey a national leader in protecting pollinators, wildlife, and people from neonic contamination."

In New Jersey, beekeepers have lost more than 40 percent of their bee colonies nearly every year for the last decade, according to the NRDC, which suggests similar losses for the state’s 300-plus native bee species.

"These losses threaten both the state’s ecosystems and many of New Jersey’s most valuable crops, including blueberries, apples, and cherries, which are highly dependent on insect pollination. Rutgers research has found that some of these crops are already 'pollinator limited,' meaning a lack of pollinators is already limiting their production," the NRDC said.

The bottom line: Unless they’re causing damage with nests built on chimneys or in wall cavities, or if someone in your household is highly allergic to bees, let bees be bees.

In cases where they do have to go, don’t kill them. Call a professional extermination company with the clothing and equipment to remove and relocate the bees without irritating them.