The spotted lanternfly is back and wreaking havoc in New Jersey
PATERSON, N.J. -- The invasive spotted lanternfly has been seen all over New Jersey yet again.
CBS2 has more on how everyone can help combat the problem.
At Paterson's Great Falls National Park, visitors are noticing something not so great, the spotted lanternfly.
"A lot. It's a lot, yeah," said Estuardo Calderon of Dover.
READ MORE: The invasive spotted lanternfly is back. Officials want you to immediately squish them.
The creepy crawlers are everywhere in the park, covering trees and handrails. This early in the season, they are in the nymph stage, so they're small, and black with white spots.
Later, they mature and get some red coloring, before getting big, bright wings in the adult stage around August.
The spotted lanternfly is not harmful to people or pets, but they can be devastating to trees and crops.
"I know, I work for a landscaping company. So they told us if we see something, we've got to let them know or kill them," Calderon said.
"There was a pretty big outbreak last year, so I would expect probably about the same," said Joseph Spagna, a professor of biology at William Paterson University.
Spagna said the lanternfly targets around 70 different types of trees and plants.
"The lanternfly goes for everything, and the big agricultural one that we really don't want it getting into is the grapes. It likes grapes," Spagna said.
For years, experts have been asking residents to squash the lanternflies, but Spagna said that will have a minimal impact.
"Squashing it may have some appeal, sort of visceral appeal, but I don't think we're going to ever squash an insect into control," Spagna said.
READ MORE: Piscataway High School students create traps targeting invasive spotted lanternflies
Instead, he suggests spraying soapy water at them. And now is the perfect time because they don't yet have wings.
"Once they're flying, there's not much you can do," Spagna said.
To help control the lanternfly problem the state of New Jersey is offering grants to municipalities to cover the cost of spraying pesticides.
Each community in the state is eligible for up to $15,000.
