The primary reason for this project is to build predictive models of spotted lanternfly abundance based on plant community composition data, focusing on the plant communities surrounding vineyards

Federal Cooperative Agreement Summary

Temple University received $119,867 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) for a one-year cooperative agreement period from September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026. This award supports the continued development and validation of predictive models for spotted lanternfly (SLF) abundance based on plant community composition data surrounding vineyards. Building upon successful first-year results, the project will expand the dataset to increase model robustness and predictive accuracy, with particular focus on identifying host plant composition and associated SLF risk levels for participating vineyard partners.

The deliverables include customized risk assessment reports provided to partner vineyards that specify host plant composition and spotted lanternfly infestation risk based on surrounding vegetative communities. Additionally, the project will produce a comprehensive technical report documenting project results, accomplishments, generated datasets, and reproducible code for model development and implementation. Dr. Behm and colleagues will also synthesize findings into informational pamphlets designed for APHIS extension specialists to distribute to growers and land managers, presenting simplified decision-making guidance for SLF treatment based on identifiable plant communities. These outputs serve intended beneficiaries including SLF stakeholders, industry partners, and APHIS personnel.

The first year of funding was successful, though plant communities and spotted lanternfly abundance was more variable than expected. This year will, work will continue and add more data to increase the robustness of the model and its predictions as well as to validate IT. With the model built and validated, DR. Behm and colleagues will provide customized reports to the vineyard partners that cooperated with the research. This will give partners specific information on the composition of host plants and the risk they have for spotted lanternfly based on their surrounding vegetative communities. They will also produce a comprehensive report of the project with a detailed summary of the results and accomplishments of the project, datasets generated during the project, and code for building and running the model. DR. Behm ET AL. Will also synthesize this information to produce informational pamphlets for extension specialists to distribute to growers and other land managers. This pamphlet will be aimed at simply and clearly communicating decision-making for treatment of spotted lanternfly based on the surrounding plant community they can identify. The intended beneficiaries are SLF stakeholders, industry partners, and USDA-PPQ.