Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) death has been observed in less than 24 hours after injecting a tree with dinotefuran. Injections of imidacloprid have also been successful but take longer to become effective. Trunk injection can provide the most accurate dosing of a tree, often with the least amount of material used, as very little material is lost to the environment outside of the tree. Products labeled for trunk injection may not have restrictions of volume of active ingredient amount per acre per year and can allow more trees per acre to be treated without violating the label restrictions. Be sure to follow the insecticide label and equipment manufacturer’s instructions. As with other application methods, the environmental conditions and vascular health of the tree can greatly affect the translocation speed of the insecticide.

Trunk sprays (also referred to as “bark banding” or “bole sprays”) with dinotefuran have also been successful. Observed death of Spotted Lanternflies (SLF) may take longer by trunk spray than with injected applications but is still likely to occur within a few days of treatment. If the label requires a bark penetrant as a spray adjuvant, be sure to include it in your application. It is important to properly dose the trees based on size measurement, not simply “spray until runoff.” It is often necessary to pause the application to wait for the material to be absorbed so the full dose as dictated by tree diameter at breast height (DBH) may be applied. Large trees with exfoliating bark, such as mature silver maples, may be difficult to properly treat with this method because the bark can reduce the penetration of the insecticide into the living tissue. Additionally, trees that have a compromised vascular system (i.e., are wounded) may not be able to translocate the insecticide as well as other trees.