Spotted Lanternfly Season: What Ohio’s Statewide Quarantine Means

Get ready to stomp: Spotted lanternflies will be flying around Northeast Ohio soon.

Adult versions of the invasive insect are already emerging in Northwest Ohio, according to Jonathan Shields, the Ohio Department of Agriculture Inspection Manager, and Northeast Ohio will follow suit. So will much more of the state — last year, populations were confirmed in 32 counties.

“From 2020 through 2024, there were only a total of 18 counties,” Shields says. “It almost doubled in 2025, and we’re just getting to where adults are emerging this year, so we expect to add some counties this year as well.”

The bug, which sports big, bright red wings, was first spotted in Ohio in 2020, and in Downtown Cleveland in 2021. In subsequent years, it's only moved into more parts of the state. While it's harmless to humans and animals, spotted lanternflies can be an annoyance for homeowners and can damage some plants and trees, including tree of heaven.

The spread of spotted lanternflies has been so intense that the Department of Agriculture issued a statewide quarantine for the pest this February. The quarantine primarily focuses on commercial industries, Shields says, so that the department can limit the spread of spotted lanternflies hitchhiking on products into new parts of the country.

“It allows us to work with nursery growers, which is probably the highest risk industry, and we get them under a compliance agreement that basically says that they're going to take the steps that are necessary to ensure that the products that they send out of the state of Ohio are free of spotted lanternfly,” Shields says. “For the most part, that means they're treating before they're shipping it out.”

RELATED: Spotted Lanternflies Are All Over Cleveland: Here’s What to Know About the Invasive Bug

Nationally, the pest has mostly moved south, and also west, into states like Illinois, which detected its first spotted lanternfly in 2025.

“The spotted lanternfly is a really good hitchhiker and has been spreading along transportation corridors like railroads and highways, and it seems that that's really been continuing,” Shields says.

The Department of Agriculture hosted a pilot program last year, giving small grants to local agencies — including Cleveland Metroparks — to manage spotted lanternflies. That program will expand in 2026, Shields says.

Like in previous years, the Ohio Department of Agriculture has an online portal to receive reports of spotted lanternflies in the state to understand the population’s growth and movement into new areas.

And if you see a spotted lanternfly, you know what to do: Squish it. Or use a spray product that helps to control spotted lanternfly.

“Spotted lanternfly is kind of an easy pest to kill,” Shields says. “There are a lot of products that are effective to control spotted lanternfly. We always recommend that people use products according to the label because the label is the law.”

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