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Wife and I hiked to the top of Hawk Rock loop near Harrisburg PA where I spotted a very nice weavil I didn't recognize; about 4mm long, jet black with bright white spots.

I tried to grab it, but it hopped away. Not a weavil. Hmmm. Must be Hemiptera. I found another and smacked it, thus obtaining first one, then several specimens. I could recall no memory of having seen anything like it, either live or in photos, so was quite happy.

As we finished the trail, my wife told me what it is: Spotted Lanternfly. "How the heck could you know that?" I asked, while thinking that would explain why I didn't recognize it. Of course, she pointed to the big sign with photos that I'd walked right past (because, you know, signs intended for the public are pedestrian and of no value.)

So now I have specimens of a new-to-me but sadly common species. Nothing new. I did report it.

Great story, thanks very much for telling it.

I assume that you 'spotted a very nice weevil', or do they spell it weavil in the USA? I am not being 'funny' but curious, as many words are spelt differently in America.

Adam.

I believe that was a typo Adam.
Weevil has never been spelled with an "a" in the word; even here, although there are a bunch of other words that have been corrupted through the years.

Correct, a typo. I’d turned off spell check after a complaint!

Thanks for the explanations. I wasn't sure as it appears twice in the story.

I use spell check to spot typos but have all 'predictive text' and 'autocorrect' turned off on everything I use. Those are useless for technical writing.

Adam.

Those must be the same Spotted Lantern flies I saw on the news?

BTW Adam, I blame weavil on the Brits. It’s from Beatles. I’ve misspelled (my fault not autocorrect) beatle more times than I can count. Just yesterday I told my kid to put her backpack in the boot, and I do say aluminium.

kevinkk wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 3:08 pm Those must be the same Spotted Lantern flies I saw on the news?

Presumably. The ecology people are going nuts about them. I’d seen photos of adults but not nymphs. Judging by the sightings on iNaturalist, the cat is out of the bag.