‘Kill it!’ US officials advise no mercy for lanternfly summer invasion

Spotted lanternflies are eating crops of apples, grapes and hops, and destroying native trees such as maple, walnut and willow

The official public guidance is simple and to the point: Kill it! Squash it, smash it ... just get rid of it!"

Such is the threat posed by a summer invasion of troublesome spotted lanternfly insects in the north-east that Pennsylvania's department of agriculture has resorted to the unorthodox language in its advice on dealing with the pest.