Spotted lanternflies may use stinky toxin to keep birds from eating them

To avoid becoming a snack for birds, spotted lanternflies appear to store a bitter and foul-smelling toxin in their bodies that makes them less appetizing to would-be predators, new research from Penn State University shows.

The invasive insects, which are wreaking havoc on crops and trees as they expand their territory in the U.S., have posed challenges to agriculture departments and wildlife experts on the hunt for remedies to the destruction they cause. Among other avenues of study, Penn State researchers have sought to understand whether spotted lanternflies have any natural predators who can keep their populations in check.

The defensive toxin in spotted lanternflies likely comes from compounds found in the tree of heaven, their preferred host. When the insects are deprived of the c