1.

This $250,000 Cooperative Agreement awarded by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) will support the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) in conducting a widespread assessment and suppression of the Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) in Ohio. Key activities include:

• Deploying traps at transportation hubs and corridors to identify SLF pathways and infested locations
• Conducting detection and delimiting surveys to map SLF infestations and Ailanthus altissima host populations
• Implementing suppression treatments to control isolated SLF populations and mitigate spread
• Developing and maintaining a comprehensive SLF population database for Ohio
• Conducting stakeholder outreach and public education on SLF management

The agreement runs from August 1, 2024 through July 31, 2025 and aims to prevent the establishment and spread of this invasive pest that poses significant risk to Ohio's agricultural resources and transportation networks.

Purpose

The goals of this project are to conduct a widespread assessment of spotted lanternfly (lycorma delicatula; SLF) pathways in response to the introduction of SLF to ohio. Also, multiple suppression treatment methods will be conducted throughout of 2024 and 2025, at critical life stages of SLF in areas that have been determined to harbor an established population. 2.

Activities

This project will emphasize trapping in transportation hubs and corridors such as rest areas, truck stops, and railways and delimitation around confirmed detections. Traps will be deployed on SLF hosts in these areas. When appropriate, quarantine enforcement and permitting for movement of potentially infested material will be established. Detection surveys will be conducted in high-risk locations and to follow up on reported sightings, and delimiting surveys will occur where SLF infestations have been confirmed. 3. Deliverables and expected outcomes: identification of locations infested by and pathways for the spread of SLF, specifically in areas with heavy transportation risk. Identify and suppress isolated reproducing spotted lanternfly populations before they can become a threat to the movement of regulated articles. Identification and location of ailanthus altissima populations in northeast ohio. Negative results would demonstrate an absence SLF. Positive results that would prompt responses to mitigate the spread and control or eradicate known infestations and allow for updated quarantine boundaries to be established. Generation of data for pest risk databases; develop and maintain an inclusive database on spotted lanternfly populations in ohio. Outreach to and education of stakeholders and the general public. Interested stakeholders will routinely be informed of any positive detections and at the end of the fiscal year be informed of all results and outcomes. 4. Intended beneficiary(IES): the whole USA , because ohio has a plethora of transportation corridors: several railways, major freeways, and the proximity of ohio to several states already infested with SLF, render ohio a very high-risk state for continued SLF introduction and spread. 5. Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award: none at this time.