When Steve Daily heard environmental authorities in his native Connecticut were asking people to kill any invasive spotted lanternfly they see, it sparked an idea: a video game-like killing competition.
What emerged was SPOTTED! at lanternflygame.com. Users mark every time they kill a spotted lanternfly, earn badges and compete against rival squads.
Daily said he and his son built the app. He thought: “‘Hey, maybe we could just get a community together to go out and try to be a little nerdy and get out there and squish some lanternflies,’” Daily said. “So we pieced something together, added a little video game inside of it, and it just kind of took off.”
The spotted lanternfly is an invasive plague to the New England region. Environmental regulators in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut are encouraging people to stomp them out whenever and wherever they spot one.
Daily’s app claimed more than 23,000 lanternfly kills as of Friday, from more than 1,300 users from as far as Ohio and Virginia.
“We’ve had consistent growth, but we’re trying to get other states to be as into it as Connecticut,” Daily said. “So Connecticut’s got a lot of exterminations, if you will, of lanternflies. We’re just trying to see if we can get other states as well.”
The bugs were first found in Pennsylvania in 2014, having traveled from China. By 2021, they had been found in Rhode Island, according to the state Department of Environmental Management. Now, they are established in at least 17 states.
The New Hampshire Department of Agriculture said it first confirmed sightings of the bugs in August. But there is still no evidence of an established population there or in Vermont or Maine.
The flies don’t pose a risk to people or pets. But the population is increasing. Typically, the bugs reach the adult stage in mid-to-late August, making them easier to spot.
Daily says he hopes the app can also be an educational tool. It includes information about the bugs’ life cycle, where they came from and their impact as an invasive species.
“We just want to keep something lighthearted and fun and try to bring some competition and a little bit of information to people,” Daily said. “Maybe get people out from behind their desks at lunch to go and monitor their communities and see if they can take a few lanternflies out at the same time.”
Some users have suggested opening the app up to other invasive species, but Daily says he doesn’t have the capacity for that yet.
“I work in New Haven, and people think I’m a little crazy when I go outside and I’m out there stomping – people look at me like I have three heads,” Daily said. “But that’s okay, because they understand why I’m doing it, and they get a good chuckle out of it.”
