Pennsylvania photographer captures the horror of invasive spotted lanternfly

• Rachel McDevitt
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Rachel McDevitt reports on energy, the environment, and climate change for StateImpact Pennsylvania at WITF.
  
  Rachel covers Pennsylvania state government’s policy on climate change, its effects on people, and lawmakers’ approach to the industries that generate many of Pennsylvania’s greenhouse gas emissions. Her work through the collaborative Climate Solutions puts special focus on communities and individuals working to address the effects of climate disruption.
  
  Her stories have aired nationally on the NPR shows Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, and Science Friday.
  
  Rachel joined WITF in 2014 as a Radio Pennsylvania reporter before becoming the local host of All Things Considered in 2017. The western Pennsylvania native started her journalism career with the CBS affiliate in Bridgeport, West Virginia. Rachel holds a degree in Communications and Spanish from Temple University.

 Matt Rourke / AP Photo

This Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, photo shows a spotted lanternfly at a vineyard in Kutztown, Pa. The spotted lanternfly has emerged as a serious pest since the federal government confirmed its arrival in southeastern Pennsylvania five years ago this week.

(Harrisburg) — This Halloween, a Pennsylvania photographer and filmmaker is offering a public service announcement about a frightful creature threatening the commonwealth.

In the spoof horror movie trailer, a full moon rises over dark woods as swarms of winged insects fly across the sky and a shadowy figure crunches over the corpses of dead spotted lanternflies. A question appears on screen: How many did you kill today?

Mike Allebach, owner of Allebach Photography, said he was inspired to make “The Spotted Lanternfly Massacre” after finding them inside his Montgomery County studio last month.

“We were just stomping on these things outside and it kind of hit me, like, what if stomping on these was a horror movie?” Allebach said. “And then I just had to run with it.”

The spotted lanternfly threaten to damage the state’s $18 billion grape, tree fruit, and timber industries.

As scary as that is to some, Allebach said there is also hope, as people band together to try to rid their communities of the pest.

“Everywhere I was going that week, everybody’s goal was to kill these things,” he said. “It was like we were living in our own horror film right now with these critters.”

Allebach says the movie is a lighthearted way to raise more awareness about the invasive bug.

The video has been viewed on YouTube more than 17,000 times.

The spotted lanternfly first appeared in Berks County in 2014 and has since expanded to 14 Pennsylvania counties, including Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, and Schuylkill.