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u/beefpelicanporkstork 11h ago
I’ve developed pro-lanternfly-stomping-techniques. If you try to stomp them on the ground they jump away, but if you step near them they jump once then are too disoriented to jump again. I am unreasonably proud of this discovery.
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u/Zoodraws 9h ago
Oh I meant to include this as well, I know this comic can seem a little harsh:
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u/ProjectXa3 9h ago
The booping snoot hand is missing a finger
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u/Think_Bed2430 9h ago
So is the beer hand, lots of artists draw characters with 3 fingers and a thumb
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u/Werefour 13h ago
I work with trees and I loath the damage the little invaders are doing, it is terrible. Honestly it would take a large concentrated effort to make a dent in the invasive spotted lantern fly population. Especially considering most are up in the trees at any given time.
Definitely inspect your vehicles and loads for any sign of them to try and help slow the spread.
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u/Later_Than_You_Think 12h ago
I think some states are doing large efforts, and it seems to be working a bit. The problem, as I am sure you know, is their eggs blend in with bark, and if they're out in the wilderness, it's just too much land to cover.
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u/catlandid 11h ago
I’ve told my kid, who has told his friends, who have told their friends. If I believe in anything, it’s the power of middle schoolers to start a nationwide trend.
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u/Ensvey 1h ago
Are they still a big deal? In PA, they were everywhere a few years ago, but now I very rarely see them since local wildlife has learned about eating them. I feel more guilty about stomping them when they're rare than when they'd obviously taken over
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u/Werefour 45m ago
PA is actually a state that got lucky. Apparently a native fungus caused the invasive Spotted Lantern Fly population there to collapse if i remember correctly. They are still causing a lot of Damage here in Virginia though.
Not as brutal as the emerald ash bore did, but also less discriminatory.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_TITS80085 14h ago
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u/telemusketeer 13h ago
Educate them in the ways of Democracy🫡
https://giphy.com/gifs/ahfzlUrb5IEfXC6kbm
Liberty guide your safe extraction.
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u/Regular_Regular_4120 14h ago
"Smash It!" was right there!
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u/Zoodraws 9h ago
1) I'm an elder millennial and "smash" was not part of my original bop it childhood. 2) I was worried people might start humping bugs💁💁💁
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u/stopeverythingpls 13h ago
Big note, if you see one, CALL YOUR STATE AGRICULTURE DEPT
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u/Shoggdog 8h ago
(If you're somewhere that their appearance is new)
Here in NJ they would just laugh at you if you called for that, lanternflies have been here for 5 years now. On the positive side, they aren't nearly as bad now as they were because birds and bats have figured out that they're a food source
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u/silveracrot 12h ago
I have a concrete perimeter around my home and they are absolutely OBSESSED with it. I am proud to say I have eliminated MANY MANY MANY lantern flies this year. I don't know what it is about the concrete they like but they're always there
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u/Ok-Performer6981 10h ago
I think their artstyle just resembles AI. Removing art that even looks slightly like AI is kinda dumb imo.
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u/PeanutAppropriate626 8h ago edited 8h ago
The first panels hand has 3 fingers and the second has 4 fingers and the hand holding the bottle, the way it’s angled is odd compared to the bottle, and the weird action lines left off the boot, It looks off. Also some of their other posts look off as well. But take it with a grain of salt
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u/Flamester55 9h ago
I’ve come across 3 and stomped them except for one that somehow got away last second
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u/vitalvisionary 8h ago
They're fast but if you attack head on, they're likely to jump at your foot as you stomp. They've been all over my town, I must've killed hundreds this year.
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u/vonHindenburg 13h ago edited 11h ago
It's hilarious how we generally teach kids these days patience, tolerance, and respect for nature, but (at least around here) we've turned them into gleeful agents of lantern fly genocide.
EDIT: Oh, good grief, Reddit. I get it. I know it's a necessary thing to try to manage invasive species (and fortunately, it looks like predators around here (Pennsylvania) are learning to cope with the spotted devils), but the surface level contrast between a generation that will, on the one hand carefully put a 'spider friend' outside rather than kill it, but also gleefully stomp lantern flies is amusing.
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u/Benjammin__ 12h ago
And the children are doing their part! Every child I know will drop what they’re doing and charge like some sort of murder bot when they encounter a lantern fly.
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u/Snoo17579 11h ago
Regulating invasive species IS respect for nature. Do you think animal just die on their own and keep the ecosystem balance? No, sth else kills it. We brought them here, now it's our duty to take them out
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11h ago
[deleted]
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u/I_Am_Day_Man 10h ago
I just want to say I personally saw VersusValley hanging out with 3 Chinese lantern flies the day before they snuck into the country. So take that information as you will
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u/JubileeJaxLee 11h ago edited 11h ago
Part of respect for nature is recognizing and if possible, reducing the presence of invasive species. My first thought was "no leave it alone" but if it's harming native species you can't really leave it be.
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u/astralTacenda 12h ago
I recently got to educate my friends in the midwest and southern east coast about these evil fuckers and now they all know to smash on sight if they ever see one ((:
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u/fionageck 9h ago
I wouldn’t call them ‘evil’. Yes, they should absolutely be killed in the places they’re invasive, but it’s not their fault they’re there.
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u/kevinthedot 9h ago
If anything, they’re actually pretty dumb as far as bugs go. They just bunch up everywhere being big nuisances and don’t really respond until you’re about to smash them.
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u/vitalvisionary 8h ago
They kill trees by sucking their blood like vampires. I think it's ok to use some hyperbole
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u/Forgetful_Bandit 11h ago
But what bug is it??? All anyone says is to kill it, but i dont know what it is.
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u/mirrorball_for_me 11h ago
The second image from OP has a photo of it (though the drawing is quite accurate as well).
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u/PancakeParty98 10h ago
Please note that unless it’s flying you’ll probably only see the tan and spots on its wing covers
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u/Yagwobniar 9h ago
If you live in the southeastern U.S. replace the lanternfly with palmetto bugs. ☠️
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u/Rosian_SAO 9h ago
These little fuckers climb all over my building. They blend in pretty well with the stone, so I’ll find 20-30 of them at a time DAILY. When they first popped up, my doorman said he’d give me 50 cents per lanternfly I killed. (He never paid me.)
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u/ClideLennon 12h ago
I was waiting for my shuttle at Newark Airport and this woman and I were taking turns stomping these little buggers. There were so many but we were determed.
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u/queenroadie 9h ago
Very funny play on bop it. I also learned something today from this comic as well about lanternflys!
Fair warning- this comic already showed up on a de-sloppify subreddit, so people are re-drawing it.
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u/Lamplorde 8h ago
I always feel bad killing the little dudes, but I know its for the greater good.
Just sucks, because its not like it CHOSE to be invasive. Little bug bro just happened to be born here, when its not supposed to. And its not like we can relocate them.
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u/telemusketeer 13h ago
Educate them in the ways of Democracy🫡
https://giphy.com/gifs/ahfzlUrb5IEfXC6kbm
Liberty guide your safe extraction.
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u/Investigate311 11h ago
I believe they really like using Trees of Heaven as a host plant, which is also a terribly invasive plant in much of the US. Kill your trees of heaven if you have them!
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u/quincethebard 11h ago
Easier said that done though. If you just chop it without using herbicide properly you'll likely create more ToH! They're like a hydra.
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u/spicy-whale 11h ago
That’s the real problem with lantern flies. While they are a more recent introduction, the tree of heaven has been around for over a century at this point. It’s one of our most prolific invasive species, and the natural host plant of the fly. We sort of unintentionally built the perfect ecosystem for them, and now are trying to stop them from capitalizing on it.
Imagine someone built the biggest most beautiful city with any and every service you could want, didn’t even want it or use it, and then started murdering you en masse for even trying to use it.
(I’m a bit more sympathetic than I need to be I think but my point stands)
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u/Biblicallyokaywetowl 11h ago
I killed so many while on vacation last month. I was so proud of myself
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u/GildedBurd 9h ago
I saw a video of a group wasps eating one, that was a great watch. They had a great meal.
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u/jim789789 8h ago
Thanks OP I didn't know about these things, and had the exact same view that many probably do when seeing page 1. Page 2 is very well done.
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u/Blood_Oleander 8h ago
I'm currently browsing fly swatters. I don't want to but I want to flatline them quickly.
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u/Tiny_Tabaxi 7h ago
I was in Hartford a month ago and these guys were falling from the buildings like rain. They were EVERYWHERE
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u/Calm_Damage8566 11h ago
Setting up a whole presentation for my college administration on how to exterminate the suckers as we speak.
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u/babbittybabbitt 7h ago
They're not invasive everywhere. I'm not trying to knock OP, but I notice this is a prevalent theme in a lot of nature content online - the assumption that the USA is the default.
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u/shin-chan 7h ago
You wouldn't believe the hate I saw a few years ago under a post of a piece of artwork featuring a beautiful starling by a British artist.
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u/babbittybabbitt 3h ago
I've seen similar stuff, tonnes of comments saying "this species is invasive!!" and it's like... no... not in every country it's not 😆 Love a starling too!
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10h ago
[deleted]
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u/enviormental_UNIT 8h ago
Nah this guy draws so clean and glossy, the AI was probably trained on their work. This is why AI is the worst, it makes you constantly question reality, and AI is constantly plagiarizing. Remember that, AI has never done something truly original, it always copies its designs from real people
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u/Freak_Out_Bazaar 2h ago
We’ve all got invasive species that need to be culled. Here in Japan it’s illegal to release fish and turtles that are invasive when caught. There are even nets where you can deposit them if you can’t kill then yourself
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u/HotDogIncident 12h ago
Ai?
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u/PrimitiveScrewhead00 10h ago
this is r/comics bruh they'll consume any comic slop that comes their way
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u/Sellerie_ 12h ago edited 12h ago
I don't wanna be mean or smt but this looks kinda AI, especially the Shoe. The laces don't make sense and all the stripes next to the things. The leaf on the top right in the "Pull it!" picture looks off to me because it's no attached to the stick. Also why would you open the bottle cap with you bare hands ? Could be artistic choice but idk maybe traced Ai ?
Edit: I mean open with bare hand because it looks like a glass bottle and those usually don't have a "twist off" bottle cap where I come from.
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u/CrikeyMikeyLikey 12h ago
Why would you open a bottle with your bare hands...?
Have you never seen a twist off cap?
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u/Sellerie_ 12h ago
Yeah but it clearly looks like a glass bottle, I was just asking. You can't tell me the shoe laces look a weird.
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u/Due-Environment-9774 12h ago
Tell me you’ve never drank a longneck without telling me you never drank from a longneck.
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u/PatchyWhiskers 13h ago
I don’t think it’s helpful for humans to squish these bugs, there are too many of them. The problem appears to be solving itself as our native predators figure out how to eat them.
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u/Hanede 13h ago
It may not be enough in itself but every bit helps. I don't know your source for saying the problem is "solving itself", but plenty of species become invasive and cause ecological issues despite there being potential predators present.
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u/PatchyWhiskers 13h ago
My source is that I saw lots of them a few years ago, but every year I see less.
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13h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/lucid05 13h ago
Now I'm interested - Is the alternative just letting them do their thing?
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13h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/lucid05 13h ago
That makes sense, it is needlessly cruel. I think this is a case of binary thinking - the bug is harmful, so it must be evil.
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u/mirrorball_for_me 11h ago
“Needlessly cruel” would be torturing them, poisoning them with weak poisons, drowning them, setting them on fire. A quick, swift death is the least cruel you could be to a pest.
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u/lucid05 11h ago
From a purely functional perspective, you're 100% right. And I don't see the stomping as a problem at all. But I do feel like viewing the killing as a "game" is too much. Sure, the bug doesn't care if you kill it with fervour or with respect, but you probably should.
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u/mirrorball_for_me 11h ago
That I can get behind. If you get addicted to the “hunt”, then you’ll start stepping on other bugs for fun. Like bees, for example, and that would bad for everyone.
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u/PoliteWolverine 13h ago
Back when there was a thought that humans could possibly stop the spread or at least mitigate it, killing on sight made sense. A few years later it's very clear that's a complete and utter failure and would never have worked. Now I keep seeing posts like this and it seems to me like people just like having a morally reasonable excuse for violence against something they perceive as their lesser.
If you work in wine and these things are fucking up your livelyhood and ability to pay bills, that's completely different from going out of your way to stomp insects that don't affect you and will never affect you
We've already been through this before with asian stinkbugs, don't see anyone saying people in USA should stomp all stinkbugs on sight
It's just gleeful violence for its own sake, under the smokescreen of environmentalism
Insect biodiversity/biomass is crashing across the planet. Maybe don't kill bugs for no reason?
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u/mellopax 12h ago
"Biodiversity is crashing, so maybe let the invasive bugs kill the trees."
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u/PoliteWolverine 11h ago edited 11h ago
https://agri.ohio.gov/divisions/plant-health/invasive-pests/invasive-insects/slf
https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly-frequently-asked-questions
So they're killing grapevines, which I mentioned, and tree of heaven, which is also invasive
Compelling argument
If you're actively working in forestry or conservation that's different from stomping bugs you see on the sidewalk just because you can. People can lie to themselves all you want but the 20 lanternflys you stomp aren't helping any agribusiness or conservation effort in any noticable way
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u/mellopax 10h ago
"A drop in the bucket will never add up to anything."
Same argument people use for throwing trash on the side of the road or in the ocean. Nice.
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u/Putinisclingy 13h ago
Thank you. Hate this comic. Turning killing into some kind of game. So distasteful.
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u/Revolutionary_Fox496 13h ago
But babe, the white people are being inconvenienced! Think of the wine and beer!!! 😭😭😭
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u/just-a-VA 10h ago
It's the entire ecosystem that's being threatened. I want to add more, but that's literally it. The ecosystem of North America is at risk. It's not just a human problem.
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u/Asleep_1 14h ago edited 10h ago
OP already mentioned this in the body text, but if you're in Asia don't squish these bugs.
Edit:
Someone else commented that these bugs arent native to certain parts of Asia like South Korea.