Spotted lanternfly traps, compared

Which spotted lanternfly trap is best?

For almost everyone, the circle trap is the best spotted lanternfly trap — it catches climbing nymphs and adults as effectively as a sticky band but without the sticky surface that snares birds, squirrels, and beneficial insects. Extension programs now steer homeowners toward circle traps for exactly that reason. Sticky bands still work and are cheap, but they should only be used with a wildlife barrier, and even then they carry bycatch risk. Flat sticky cards are a monitoring tool, not a serious control method for a home tree. If you buy or build one trap, make it a circle trap.

How circle traps work

A circle trap works by turning the lanternfly's own climbing instinct into a trap with no sticky surface at all. A skirt of plastic-coated insect screening wraps around the trunk and angles upward into a funnel; as nymphs and adults walk up the tree to feed, they're guided into the funnel and up into a dead-end collection bag or bottle at the top, which they can't find their way back out of. As Penn State puts it, once they're in that bag, you've got them. Because there's no adhesive, a circle trap poses little threat to birds or beneficial insects — the reason it has become the recommended trap.

Ready-made circle traps are sold in kits sized to different trunk diameters, usually with replaceable collection bags. A circle trap kit is the simplest way to get started if you'd rather not build one, though — as we cover below — a homemade version is inexpensive and works just as well.

Sticky bands and the wildlife risk

Sticky bands catch lanternflies, but they also catch wildlife, and that trade-off is why they've fallen out of favor. A sticky band is a strip of adhesive wrapped around the trunk; climbing lanternflies get stuck to it. The problem is that the glue isn't selective — Penn State reports that sticky bands routinely trap songbirds, squirrels and other small mammals, butterflies, pollinators, and other beneficial insects. Trapping unintended targets, including songbirds and beneficial insects, is the method's major drawback. Penn State is explicit that sticky bands should never be used without a wildlife barrier installed around them.

If you use a sticky band, the current guidance for reducing bycatch is specific — and note that older advice has been retired:

• Cage it with fine window screening, not chicken wire. Penn State no longer recommends chicken wire, because its mesh is wide enough to let small birds and beneficial insects reach the glue. Use flexible window screening pinned above the band and pleated so it stands off the trunk.
• Keep bands narrow — about 5 inches or less — and press the band tightly to the bark so insects can't crawl underneath.
• Check the trap daily and, if you find a bird or animal stuck, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator rather than pulling it free yourself.

Even done correctly, a caged sticky band is more work and more risk than a circle trap for the same result — which is why, if you're choosing today, the circle trap is the better buy. A sticky band with a built-in wildlife guard is the only form worth considering, and only if a circle trap won't fit your tree.

DIY vs. buy

You can build an effective circle trap yourself for a few dollars, or buy a ready-made kit for convenience — both catch lanternflies well. Penn State publishes full step-by-step build instructions using plastic insect screening, thin wood strips or wire to form the funnel, and a collection container; it's an easy afternoon project, and homemade traps perform on par with commercial ones. Buying makes sense if you want the right trunk fit out of the box, replaceable bags, and no assembly.

A middle path many people take: buy the insect screening and hardware once, then rebuild or re-skin traps cheaply each season. However you get there, spend on the circle-trap design rather than a cheaper sticky band that comes with a wildlife cost.

How to place and maintain a trap

Place the trap on the trunk of a tree the lanternflies actually use — often a tree of heaven, maple, or another favored host — because a trap on an unvisited tree catches nothing. A few practical rules:

• Height: mount the trap roughly 2 to 4 feet up the trunk, above the root flare, where the surface is smooth enough to seal against.
• Seal the gaps: smooth the screening or band tight to the bark so insects can't slip behind it; on deeply furrowed bark, tuck it into the grooves.
• Empty and maintain: empty a circle trap's collection container as it fills and replace the bag when needed; the trap works all season as long as it's intact.
• Combine with other control: traps thin the climbers, but pair them with egg-mass scraping in winter and, where needed, a labeled insecticide for the best result.

Set realistic expectations on how many you'll need. One trap protects one trunk, so a yard with several favored trees may want a trap on each of the two or three the lanternflies use most rather than one on every tree. A single trap can fill its container quickly in a heavy year, which is a good sign it's working — not a reason to expect the trap alone to clear the property. Where lanternflies are established, expect to keep trapping through the season and to see new arrivals fly in from surrounding land; the trap's job is to steadily reduce the local population and protect the tree it's on, not to win the yard in a week.

Traps are one tool in a season-long approach. For how they fit alongside egg-mass removal and insecticides, see the full how to get rid of spotted lanternflies guide, and use the identification guide to be sure the insect you're trapping is actually a lanternfly.