Loudoun Volunteers Remove Hundreds Of Thousands Of Invasive Insects

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Hundreds of thousands of invasive spotted lanternfly eggs were eradicated during a first-ever volunteer event to tackle spotted lanternfly problem areas at wineries and other Loudoun County locations.

The Loudoun Invasive Removal Alliance, a group of homeowners associations working to address invasive species, organized Saturday's Scrape for the Grape event with Visit Loudoun, Loudoun County Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Loudoun Wineries & Winegrowers Association. Volunteers counted 16,798 spotted lanternfly egg masses scraped from trees, and each egg mass could contain 30 to 50 eggs. Assuming half of the eggs were female, that means a potential 1 million potential spotted lanternflies were prevented from coming to Loudoun County.

"I’m not aware of another community coming together to help grape growers manage Spotted Lanternflies like what I saw in Loudoun," said Andrew Harner, assistant professor of viticulture and extension specialist with Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension. "The volunteers removed 16,798 egg masses, most likely totaling around 590,000 individual eggs. Coupled with the volunteers’ identification of 147 Tree of Heaven trees that’ll also be removed, these efforts are a tremendous service to the local wine grape community."

The first-ever Scrape for the Grape event was geared toward protecting Loudoun's wineries and other crop producers from the invasive spotted lanternfly, which may feed on crops in orchards and vineyards. Volunteers at various locations used a credit card-sized scraper to remove spotted lanternfly egg masses from trees, vineyard trellis posts and more. In addition, volunteers tagged 147 invasive Tree of Heaven, the spotted lanternflies' preferred host, for future removal.

Scrape for the Grape drew 389 registered volunteers as well as additional walk-up volunteers. There were 41 homeowners associations represented, with the most coming from Ashburn Village, Ashburn Farms, Brambleton, Cascades, Countryside, Potomac Green and South Riding. There were at least 59 volunteers not affiliated with a homeowners association.

"I can't think of a more impactful awareness event than what Scrape for the Grape accomplished this weekend," LIRA President Mike Littman said in a statement. "It was a great example of east and west Loudoun coming together for the greater good while educating residents on the growing threat of invasives to our economy, health and safety and environment."

The egg masses were removed at 14 locations around the county, including Bluemont Vineyard and Leesburg's Ida Lee Park. As a measure of gratitude, 14 wineries and Bear Chase Brewery offered discounts, free tastings and more to volunteers. Kids under 21 could receive a special spotted lanternfly decorated cookie from Mom’s Apple Pie in Leesburg.

"I was amazed at the community outpouring that came to help save our vineyards from Spotted Lanternflies," Bluemont Vineyard winemaker Scott Spelbring said in a statement. "Though it was cloudy and cold, our volunteers were complete rockstars. Seeing the sea of volunteers in red bandanas across the vineyards was heartwarming."