FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT: Michelle Duennes, Ph.D., michelle.duennes@stvincent.edu RELEASE DATE: September 29, 2025 SPOTTED LANTERNFLY INVASION ARCHIVE COLLECTION KITS NOW AVAILABLE TO ORDER Scientist seeks national public participation to collect “unsquished” specimens for future research LATROBE, Pa.–The Spotted Lanternfly Invasion Archive citizen science project is seeking participants throughout the United States to collect specimens this fall. For a nominal fee of $10, participants will receive via USPS a collection kit which includes a plastic lidded test tube; propylene glycol preservative; data sheet; complete instructions on how to collect their specimens; and a return shipping label. Participants are asked to collect five male and five female adult spotted lanternflies which they will then preserve in propylene glycol before mailing them back. "Every sample someone collects helps us build a DNA database of spotted lanternfly populations," said Michelle Duennes, entomologist and co-founder of the project. "The more samples and geographic locations we have in that database, the more accurately we might be able to track how they are spreading and where new infestations came from. Our small research team wouldn’t be able to build this database without help from the public!” For more information, and to sign up for the Spotted Lanternfly Invasion Archive, please visit https://slfia.org/. ABOUT THE SPOTTED LANTERNFLY The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an invasive insect that arrived in the United States via cargo shipment in 2014 and was first recorded in Berks County, Pa. It has since spread to 15 states, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A species of leafhopper, spotted lanternflies are native to China, India and Vietnam. In the United States, spotted lanternflies favor their host plant, the invasive tree of heaven, as well as grape vines. In their current US distribution, they hatch in late spring and spend several months as non-flighted nymphs before becoming flighted adults each June, breeding in early fall. Scientists in the United States are studying the effects of this invasive species on local ecosystems and agriculture. ABOUT MICHELLE DUENNES Michelle Duennes, Ph.D., is an entomologist who co-founded the Spotted Lanternfly Invasion Archive in 2022. She is an Associate Professor of Biology at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. ###