CURRENT EVENT SUMMARY
Name: Caleb Stowers
Date: 9/22/20
Period: 4
Title of publication: CAN SCIENTISTS STOP THE PLAGUE OF THE SPOTTED LANTERNFLY?
Publication date: October 2020
Author(s) of publication: Jeff Macgregor
Source of publication: Smithsonianmag.com
(newspaper or magazine name and issue number; or exact website address/URL)
A new enemy has arisen for the farmers of America. This enemy is small but dangerous, the spots on its back as distinct as the threat it poses. It arrived in Pennsylvania in 2014, and now five other states have fallen under the shadow of it’s four wings. This alien monster, known only as...the Spotted Lanternfly. It uses its mouth to penetrate the phloem of the tree or vine that it marks as it’s victim, draining their nutrients like flamboyant vampires, and then excrete sugar water onto the ground, destroying the soil and adding insult to the defenseless tree’s injury. The plant that these thumb-sized demons feed on most successfully is the Ailanthus Altissima, a fellow Asian invader. And it’s not just these beasts. There are countless invasive insects all over the world that can kill entire forests. That’s why the USDA Integrated Pest Management Program, or the USDAIPMP, are battling constantly against these invasive species. It is a war, and it is not without casualties.
The more we know about the invasive species, the more we can do to help fight them.
I was to find a connection between insects and Flowering Plants. Spotted Lanternflies feed on Flowering Plants.
Name: Caleb Stowers
Date: 9/22/20
Period: 4
Title of publication: CAN SCIENTISTS STOP THE PLAGUE OF THE SPOTTED LANTERNFLY?
Publication date: October 2020
Author(s) of publication: Jeff Macgregor
Source of publication: Smithsonianmag.com
(newspaper or magazine name and issue number; or exact website address/URL)
- Summary:
A new enemy has arisen for the farmers of America. This enemy is small but dangerous, the spots on its back as distinct as the threat it poses. It arrived in Pennsylvania in 2014, and now five other states have fallen under the shadow of it’s four wings. This alien monster, known only as...the Spotted Lanternfly. It uses its mouth to penetrate the phloem of the tree or vine that it marks as it’s victim, draining their nutrients like flamboyant vampires, and then excrete sugar water onto the ground, destroying the soil and adding insult to the defenseless tree’s injury. The plant that these thumb-sized demons feed on most successfully is the Ailanthus Altissima, a fellow Asian invader. And it’s not just these beasts. There are countless invasive insects all over the world that can kill entire forests. That’s why the USDA Integrated Pest Management Program, or the USDAIPMP, are battling constantly against these invasive species. It is a war, and it is not without casualties.
- Social Justice:
The more we know about the invasive species, the more we can do to help fight them.
- Connections to course content:
I was to find a connection between insects and Flowering Plants. Spotted Lanternflies feed on Flowering Plants.