Spotted Lanternfly: Biology, cold tolerance & leveraging alternative sources of species occurrences

Biology and cold tolerance of spotted lanternfly: The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula, Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) is a planthopper native to China and southeastern Asia and is invasive in North America. To inform the risk assessment of northward spread into Canada, Anna will discuss results from her work determining the cold tolerance strategy and lower lethal limits of overwintering eggs. Anna Turbelin, Research Scientist, Natural Resources Canada: Anna Turbelin is a Research Scientist at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Natural Resources Canada, in Sault Ste. Marie. Her research focuses on invasion science, particularly the cold tolerance of invasive insects such as the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) and the cascading effects and synergies between biological invasions and natural hazards. She holds a PhD in Physical Geography from King’s College London and previously conducted postdoctoral research at Université Paris-Saclay on projects pertaining to invasion science including InvaCost and AlienScenarios. Leveraging alternative sources of species occurrences for biodiversity and conservation research – a case study in the spotted lanternfly: Effective monitoring of invasive species population size and established distribution is crucial for control and eradication efforts, but physical survey efforts can be costly and resource-intensive. Here, we explore the capacity of Google Trends, a tool quantifying internet searches made on the Google search engine, to contribute to monitoring of population abundance and established distribution of the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula), a recent invasive insect to North America that has resulted in a number of negative ecological and agricultural effects. Specifically, we aimed to assess whether Google Trends reflects changes in population size and established geographic range. Alex will discuss its efficacy in monitoring the spotted lanternfly invasion in particular as well as possible considerations and limitations of this approach generally. Alex Van Huynh, Assistant Professor of Biology, DeSales University: Dr. Alex Van Huynh received his Ph.D. from Lehigh University in 2020. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Biology at DeSales University. His research employs multiple approaches for answering fundamental questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation.