A growing roster of North American animals feeds on spotted lanternflies, from backyard birds and spiders to praying mantises and parasitic fungi, but no single native predator has proven capable of controlling the invasion on its own. The spotted lanternfly carries chemical defenses that make it a tough meal for many would-be hunters, and that mismatch between available predators and effective predation is the central reason this pest keeps spreading. Understanding which creatures eat it, and what limits their appetite, is key to figuring out whether nature can lend a hand in managing one of the most damaging invasive insects in the eastern United States.
Birds That Eat Spotted Lanternflies
Community science efforts, including a large Facebook-based project that collected public reports of predation events, found that birds are among the most frequently observed predators of spotted lanternflies in North America. The bird family reported most often was Phasianidae, which includes chickens and game birds like ring-necked pheasants. Other commonly reported avian predators include cardinals, blue jays, gray catbirds, and various woodpecker species. Most of the bird predation reports involved adults or late-stage nymphs, which are the life stages people are most likely to notice on tree trunks and outdoor surfaces.1PubMed. Using community science to identify predators of spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), in North America
That said, a critical detail complicates the bird-eats-bug story. Spotted lanternflies feed heavily on tree of heaven, an invasive tree from the same part of Asia, and when they do, they absorb bitter plant toxins called quassinoids into their bodies. Experiments with house wrens showed that these birds ate far more lanternfly nymphs that had not had access to tree of heaven than nymphs reared on it. When researchers made suet blocks containing ground-up lanternfly adults, birds pecked at the suet made from lanternflies raised without tree of heaven significantly more often than suet from adults that had fed on the tree.2PubMed Central. Sequestration of plant defenses by spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) and effects on avian predators In other words, the very host plant that helps the lanternfly thrive in North America also makes it taste terrible to birds.
This doesn’t mean birds ignore lanternflies entirely. Some individual birds learn to eat them despite the bitterness, and modeling work suggests that social learning among flocking birds could amplify this behavior. If a few bold individuals in a flock start eating lanternflies, the idea is that others observe and follow suit, gradually building a collective biological control response.3PubMed Central. Modelling the emergence of social-bird biological controls to mitigate invasions of the spotted lanternfly and similar invasive pests Whether this actually scales up in the real world remains an open question, but the possibility is encouraging.
Why Spotted Lanternflies Are Hard to Eat
Chemical defense through tree of heaven is only one layer of the spotted lanternfly’s survival toolkit. Research on the species in its native range describes multiple anti-predator strategies working in tandem. The forewings are cryptically colored, blending with bark when the insect is at rest. If disturbed, it can jump away explosively. If that fails, it flashes its brightly colored hindwings and red-patched abdomen in a sudden startle display meant to surprise a predator just long enough for the lanternfly to escape. And if all else fails, it plays dead.4Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. Multiple lines of anti-predator defence in the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae)
This layered defense system is part of why the lanternfly is so successful as an invader. In its native range in China, it coevolved with specialized natural enemies that learned to get around these tricks. In North America, generalist predators are still figuring out what to do with an insect that jumps like a grasshopper, flashes warning colors, and tastes like quinine.
Spiders and Praying Mantises
Arthropod predators actually account for the largest number of predation reports in citizen-science data, even more than birds. Spiders, specifically the order Araneae, generated the most individual reports of any arthropod group.1PubMed. Using community science to identify predators of spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), in North America Web-building spiders like orb weavers catch lanternfly nymphs and adults passively, and several species of ground-dwelling and ambush spiders have been photographed feeding on them as well. Unlike birds, spiders don’t appear to be as deterred by the tree-of-heaven toxins, though direct experimental comparisons are limited.
Praying mantises are another promising group. A study testing five different mantis species found that both late-instar nymphs and adult mantises readily preyed on spotted lanternfly adults. Their feeding rates increased in a straightforward way as more lanternflies were offered, meaning they didn’t hit a ceiling of satiation quickly. This is relevant because it suggests mantises could ramp up consumption in areas where lanternfly densities are high.5PubMed. Predation efficiency of praying mantises as important natural enemies of spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula
The catch with generalist arthropod predators is that they eat a lot of other things too. A spider isn’t going to specialize in hunting spotted lanternflies when there are easier meals around. Mantises are voracious, but they’re just as happy eating beneficial insects like pollinators. So while arthropod predators chip away at lanternfly populations, they don’t provide targeted control the way a specialist natural enemy would.
Fungal Pathogens That Kill Spotted Lanternflies
Some of the most dramatic die-offs of spotted lanternflies have been caused not by animals but by fungi. In fall 2018, two native North American fungal species triggered a massive epizootic, essentially a disease outbreak among insects, that caused a localized population collapse in eastern Pennsylvania. The two fungi divided up the habitat almost neatly: one species, Batkoa major, killed most of the lanternflies found on tree trunks, while Beauveria bassiana primarily killed those found on the ground.6PubMed Central. A pair of native fungal pathogens drives decline of a new invasive herbivore
Since then, additional fungal species have been documented infecting spotted lanternflies, bringing the total of naturally occurring entomopathogenic fungi to at least four, with two of these causing large-scale die-offs.7PubMed Central. Accumulation of Fungal Pathogens Infecting the Invasive Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula These fungal outbreaks tend to happen in fall, when lanternfly densities peak and environmental conditions favor fungal growth. They’re exciting because they can kill huge numbers of insects at once, something no vertebrate predator has managed. But they’re also unpredictable. A wet, cool fall might trigger a massive fungal epizootic; a dry one might not. Researchers are investigating whether Beauveria bassiana, which is already commercially produced for other pest applications, could be deployed more deliberately against lanternflies.
Specialist Enemies from China
In the spotted lanternfly’s home range across northern China, two specialist parasitoids keep populations in check in ways that North American generalists simply cannot. Anastatus orientalis is a tiny wasp that parasitizes lanternfly egg masses, laying its own eggs inside them so that wasp larvae devour the lanternfly embryos. Surveys across multiple Chinese provinces found this wasp in seven different regions, with parasitism rates ranging widely depending on location and whether calculations included only egg masses the wasps had actually found.8Environmental Entomology. Exploratory Survey of Spotted Lanternfly (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) and Its Natural Enemies in China
The second specialist is Dryinus sinicus, a parasitoid wasp that attacks second- and third-instar nymphs rather than eggs. It was found parasitizing lanternfly nymphs at rates above 20 percent in Beijing and above 30 percent at a site in Shandong Province.8Environmental Entomology. Exploratory Survey of Spotted Lanternfly (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) and Its Natural Enemies in China Laboratory studies of Dryinus sinicus confirm it fits the profile of an effective biological control agent: females respond to increasing lanternfly densities by consuming more prey, and they’re especially efficient at finding and attacking first-instar nymphs.9Journal of Economic Entomology. Functional response of the native natural enemy of Dryinus sinicus (Hymenoptera: Dryinidae) to different instars of spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula, Hemiptera: Fulgoridae)
Both parasitoids are being actively evaluated for introduction into the United States. Anastatus orientalis is already being tested in quarantine facilities, and lab results are promising: when five female wasps were given access to a single lanternfly egg mass for one week, they parasitized an average of about 80 percent of the eggs.10Biological Control. Proactive biological control of spotted lanternfly: Parasitism and host feeding behavior of Anastatus orientalis (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) on Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) egg masses Genetic work has also revealed that what scientists initially treated as a single species actually contains cryptic diversity, meaning there may be genetically distinct populations of Anastatus orientalis adapted to different climates or host-plant environments.11PubMed Central. Cryptic genetic diversity and associated ecological differences of Anastatus orientalis, an egg parasitoid of the spotted lanternfly That matters because selecting the right genetic lineage could make the difference between a wasp that thrives in Pennsylvania winters and one that doesn’t.
Classical biological control, the deliberate introduction of a pest’s natural enemy from its home range, is a slow, heavily regulated process in the United States. The wasps have to be proven safe for native species before they can be released, which involves years of host-specificity testing. But if approved, they could provide the kind of sustained, self-perpetuating pressure that generalist predators and unpredictable fungal outbreaks cannot.
Why Native Predators Alone Are Not Enough
The short version is that the spotted lanternfly arrived in North America without the specialist enemies it coevolved with, and generalist predators aren’t filling the gap fast enough. Birds are put off by the chemical defenses. Spiders and mantises will eat lanternflies opportunistically but don’t specialize in them. Fungal die-offs are dramatic but weather-dependent. There is no native North American predator or pathogen that reliably hunts spotted lanternflies at every life stage from egg to adult, across every season.
This is the classic pattern for invasive species. In its native range, the spotted lanternfly faces coordinated pressure from egg parasitoids, nymph parasitoids, generalist predators, and fungal pathogens all at once. That combined pressure keeps populations in check without eliminating the species. In North America, only fragments of that pressure exist, and the lanternfly’s population growth outpaces what any single fragment can handle. The hope is that a combination of introduced biological control agents, naturally adapting native predators, and fungal pathogens could eventually recreate something close to the multi-layered pressure the insect faces at home.
The Honeydew Problem and Its Unexpected Winners
Spotted lanternflies are phloem feeders. They jam their piercing mouthparts into plant tissue and suck out sugary sap, excreting enormous quantities of a sticky waste product called honeydew. Dense infestations coat trees, sidewalks, cars, and anything beneath them in a glistening, sometimes foul-smelling layer. This honeydew promotes the growth of sooty mold, which blocks light from leaves and stresses trees further.
But the honeydew and the sap-exuding wounds the lanternflies leave behind also create a novel food source for other invertebrates. A detailed survey in southeastern Pennsylvania recorded over 1,500 feeding observations at 43 sites. The overwhelming majority of invertebrates feeding on lanternfly honeydew and wound exudate were wasps, bees, and other Hymenoptera, making up about 78 percent of observations, with flies accounting for roughly 20 percent. Researchers identified 33 Hymenoptera species, 29 of which were native, including key pollinators and parasitoid wasps. The invasive European hornet was also abundant at these sites and aggressively displaced native consumers.12Environmental Entomology. Honeydew and feeding-wound exudate from invasive spotted lanternfly (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) on invasive tree-of-heaven (Sapindales: Simaroubaceae) subsidize North American pollinators, parasitoids, and other invertebrates
This creates a complicated ecological picture. The honeydew is, in a narrow sense, feeding native pollinators that might otherwise struggle in late summer and fall when natural nectar sources wane. But it is also attracting and benefiting invasive competitors like European hornets, and the sooty mold it generates harms the trees those pollinators depend on. Whether the net effect on pollinator communities is positive or negative is far from clear, but the fact that the lanternfly invasion reshapes food webs in ways that go well beyond “pest eats plant” is part of why researchers take it so seriously.
What You Can Do in Your Own Yard
If you live in an area where spotted lanternflies are established, you’ve probably already been encouraged to stomp them on sight. Squishing adults feels satisfying, but it’s worth understanding where your effort fits into the bigger picture. Individual stomping won’t control a regional population. What it can do is reduce the density on your own property, which protects your trees and grapevines from the worst feeding damage and honeydew accumulation.
A few practical steps actually make a difference. Scraping egg masses off trees, fences, and outdoor furniture between October and May destroys the next generation before it hatches. Circle traps wrapped around tree trunks catch nymphs as they climb upward in spring and summer. Removing tree of heaven from your property eliminates the primary host that draws lanternflies in and, as the chemical defense research shows, keeps them bitter enough to deter birds. If you leave tree of heaven standing as a “trap tree” and treat it with systemic insecticide, that’s a strategy some extension services recommend, but it requires careful timing and dosing.
Encouraging spider habitat, leaving some leaf litter and not spraying broad-spectrum insecticides indiscriminately, gives generalist arthropod predators a better chance of picking off lanternflies on your property. Broad-spectrum sprays kill the very predators and parasitoids that could eventually build into meaningful natural control. The long game for managing this pest involves a coalition of biological agents, from native fungi and spiders to introduced parasitoid wasps, and keeping those allies alive on your land matters more than the personal satisfaction of squishing one more adult on the sidewalk.
Watching for Predator Adaptation Over Time
One of the more interesting open questions is whether North American predators are getting better at eating spotted lanternflies as the years go on. Invasive species often experience an initial “enemy-free” period where native predators ignore them, followed by a gradual shift as local wildlife learns to exploit the new food source. The lanternfly has been in the U.S. since around 2014, and a decade is a very short time in ecological terms.
Citizen science observations are one of the main tools for tracking this shift. The community-science Facebook project that cataloged predation reports found significant relationships between predator behavior and the lanternfly’s life stage and host plant, suggesting that some predators are already developing preferences for certain situations, like attacking nymphs on grapevines rather than adults on tree of heaven.1PubMed. Using community science to identify predators of spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), in North America If you see a bird, spider, or other animal eating a spotted lanternfly, reporting it through platforms like iNaturalist or dedicated research projects contributes real data. These observations help researchers map which predators are shifting onto the lanternfly, where adaptation is happening fastest, and whether predation rates are climbing year over year. The answer to “what eats spotted lanternflies” isn’t static. It’s a story still being written, and backyard observers are some of the people writing it.