Spotted lanternflies feed on over 103 plant species, ranging from grapevines and fruit trees to hardwoods and common backyard ornamentals. Their single favorite host is tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), an invasive tree from China, but they are far from picky. When you include plants they’ll lay eggs on in addition to feeding, the total rises to 172 species.
Tree-of-Heaven: The Preferred Host
Tree-of-heaven is the spotted lanternfly’s top choice. Adults and nymphs congregate on it in large numbers, and it’s one of the most reliable places to spot an infestation. But “preferred” doesn’t mean “required.” A 2020 study published in Environmental Entomology found that spotted lanternflies can complete their entire life cycle and reproduce without ever touching tree-of-heaven. Females in enclosures without the tree still laid viable egg masses, and hatch rates were nearly identical to those with tree-of-heaven access (about 80-83%). The catch: without their preferred host, they produced far fewer egg masses (6 versus 46 in the study), suggesting reduced overall fitness. This means removing tree-of-heaven from your property can slow populations, but it won’t stop them entirely.
Grapes and Other Fruit Crops
Grapevines face the most serious agricultural threat. Spotted lanternflies are considered a significant grape pest, and heavy feeding has directly contributed to vine death. Cornell researchers estimated that an infestation could cost New York’s grape industry $1.5 million in its first year, rising to $8.8 million by the third year, with the Lake Erie and Finger Lakes regions most at risk.
Apple, peach, plum, cherry, and apricot trees are also on the menu. The insects don’t feed on the fruit itself, but large numbers feeding on branches and trunks during harvest season create two problems. They remove significant amounts of sap, weakening the plant, and they excrete a sticky waste called honeydew that coats surfaces below. A black fungus called sooty mold then grows on the honeydew, which can contaminate berries, delay fruit ripening, and reduce the plant’s tolerance to cold weather. The net result is lower marketable yields even when the fruit appears physically untouched.
Hardwoods and Timber Trees
The list of affected trees reads like a catalog of Eastern U.S. forests. Spotted lanternflies feed on maples, oaks, willows, black walnut, black cherry, tulip tree, white ash, sycamore, American beech, basswood, birch (both black and paper), sassafras, serviceberry, pignut hickory, slippery elm, pines, and several species of dogwood. Many of these are commercially important for timber or widely planted as ornamentals.
Black walnut is especially vulnerable. Dead shoots on black walnut trees have been observed in Pennsylvania, and heavy feeding has contributed to the death of black walnut saplings. For most other tree species, spotted lanternfly feeding alone is unlikely to kill the tree outright. Instead, it acts as a stressor. Feeding reduces photosynthesis and nutrient levels, weakening the tree over time. If the tree is already dealing with drought, disease, or other insect pests, the added stress from spotted lanternflies can push it toward serious decline or branch dieback.
How Feeding Changes With Age
Spotted lanternflies go through four nymph stages before becoming winged adults, and their plant preferences shift along the way. Young nymphs prefer soft, herbaceous plants and the tender new shoots of trees and shrubs. As they grow into later stages, they move to tougher, woody stems and established branches. Fourth-stage nymphs and adults feed on the bark of tree trunks and thicker branches, using piercing, straw-like mouthparts to drill into the plant’s inner tissue and tap directly into the flow of sugary sap.
This progression means that a wider variety of plants are at risk than you might expect. Early in the season, young nymphs can damage perennials, annuals, and garden plants. By midsummer, the larger nymphs and adults shift to trees and woody vines. A single property can see damage across flower beds and tree canopy alike over the course of one season.
The Honeydew Problem
Because spotted lanternflies feed on sugar-rich sap, they process enormous volumes of it and excrete the excess as honeydew, a clear, sticky liquid that rains down on anything below a feeding colony. This honeydew attracts bees, wasps, ants, and other insects, creating a secondary nuisance. More importantly, sooty mold colonizes honeydew-coated surfaces, turning leaves, fruit, patio furniture, and cars black. On leaves, sooty mold blocks sunlight and further reduces the plant’s ability to photosynthesize, compounding the damage from sap loss.
Hops and Other Crops
Beyond grapes and stone fruits, spotted lanternflies feed on hops, which has raised concerns for the craft brewing industry in affected states. They also target a range of landscape and ornamental plants. Penn State Extension notes that large numbers of feeding nymphs can cause dieback in perennials and annuals, and the pest affects plants across the agricultural, timber, and ornamental industries. The breadth of the host range is what makes this insect so damaging: it can move from a backyard maple to a vineyard to an apple orchard without skipping a meal.
With infestations now confirmed in 19 states and the District of Columbia, the practical question for most people is whether their specific plants are at risk. If you grow grapes, hops, stone fruit, walnuts, maples, or willows, you’re in the highest-risk category. But with over 100 confirmed feeding hosts, few landscapes are completely safe from at least some level of spotted lanternfly activity.