Effective Resource Allocation to Combat Invasions of the Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) and Similar Pests

The spotted lanternfly is rapidly establishing itself as a major insect pest with global implications. Despite substantial management efforts, its spread continues in invaded regions, highlighting the need for refined strategies. A recent model generalized results of empirical control studies by incorporating population dynamics and incomplete delivery, introducing a formula for the minimum proportion of a population that must be treated to induce decline. However, that model cannot address the more practical question of how to allocate control efforts. Here, we extend the model to identify effective deployment strategies. When control effects scale linearly with effort, we show that sequential application of stage-specific controls, ordered by efficacy, is optimal. When effects exhibit diminishing returns, we derive a switching criterion between controls that accommodates variable or uncertain resources. For fixed resources, we employ global optimization to obtain deployment strategies. Both approaches consistently outperform random deployment, which we show can lead to catastrophic outcomes. Our findings demonstrate the importance of adopting effective control strategies for the lanternfly. Despite this need, we found no prior studies addressing deployment strategies in the lanternfly literature. The methods developed here provide a foundation for ensuring that limited management resources are used effectively.