Goseong-gun, Gyeongnam, "No Escape for Invasive and Sudden Pest Outbreaks"

Making Every Effort to Minimize Pest Damage

We have entered an era of global crisis beyond climate anomalies such as warming, heavy rain, and abnormal high temperatures. This is directly affecting agriculture and rural areas.

Notably, the occurrence of invasive pests and sudden outbreak pests has reached a stage where they are causing significant difficulties for farmers and severe damage to crop cultivation.

In particular, this year, the damage caused by sudden outbreak pests is more concerning due to the abnormal temperatures arriving earlier than usual.

Sudden outbreak pests refer to native or invasive pests that occur unpredictably regardless of time or place, causing damage to crops or forests. Among them, the three representative invasive sudden outbreak pests found in Korea are the Spotted Lanternfly (American lanternfly), the Korean Flower Cicada, and the Brown-winged Cicada.

Goseong-gun, Gyeongnam is making every effort to minimize damage caused by invasive and sudden outbreak pests.

Goseong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, is making every effort to minimize damage caused by invasive and sudden outbreak pests.

The Spotted Lanternfly was first discovered in 2009 in Gimhae and has since spread nationwide, mainly damaging crops such as persimmons, apples, pears, and peaches. Since sudden outbreak pests are not limited by time or location, once introduced, their population can multiply enormously in the worst cases, feeding on crop leaves or sucking sap from branches. The secreted excrement causes sooty mold, which lowers the commercial value of the fruit, making early response crucial.

Sudden outbreak pests typically hatch in mid-May and go through about two months of nymph stages before becoming adults. Therefore, controlling them during the nymph stage before they mature can increase pest control effectiveness. Accordingly, Goseong-gun has been continuously conducting surveillance and occurrence investigations of sudden outbreak pests since late May this year by deploying plant pest controllers to minimize damage to farms.

Additionally, to minimize damage, early response along with adult pest control between June and July?before the three major sudden outbreak pests lay eggs?is necessary to achieve effective pest control. Therefore, since May this year, Goseong-gun has been investing in an ‘Emergency Pest Control Fund for Invasive Sudden Outbreak Pests’ to carry out early pest control.

The characteristics of the three major invasive sudden outbreak pests (Spotted Lanternfly, Korean Flower Cicada, Brown-winged Cicada) are as follows: The Spotted Lanternfly weakens crop vigor by sap sucking and secretes waxy substances that degrade crop quality. Adults emerge from mid-July and begin laying eggs from August. Since one female can lay about 90 eggs, thorough pest control is necessary.

Adult spotted lanternfly.

The Korean Flower Cicada begins hatching from late April and completes hatching by early June. During the fruit tree growing season, nymphs suck sap from stems, weakening the vigor. In severe cases, like the Brown-winged Cicada, it can cause stem dieback. During harvest, it secretes honeydew that induces sooty mold and causes fruit rot, reducing commercial value. Adults appear from late July, feeding on sap from tree stems, and from late September, each female lays 90 to 100 overwintering eggs.

The Brown-winged Cicada becomes an adult around mid-July and lays eggs inside branches from mid-August. It mainly lays eggs in one-year-old young branches, penetrating deep into branch tissues, causing branch dieback the following year. In some crops, damage caused by egg laying is greater than that caused by sap sucking by adults or nymphs, which is why controlling the Brown-winged Cicada now is also essential.

Choi Kyung-rak, director of the Goseong-gun Agricultural Technology Center, said, “Early and precise surveillance to control sudden outbreak pests at the time when adults begin to appear in earnest is essential to prevent their spread. Since many sudden outbreak pests reproduce based on farmland and forest areas, we will strive to minimize damage to farms caused by these pests through continuous surveillance by plant pest controllers and pest control education.”