CLEVELAND — It's a pest of a bug that no one wants to see, but people like Lee Klingshirn are on the lookout.
"That's a little poster I made myself early on in the alert stage," said Klingshirn.
Klingshirn owns Klingshirn Winery in Avon Lake.
He's looking for spotted lanternflies, an invasive insect that originated in Asia and has been spotted in northeast Ohio.
Spotted lanternflies can negatively impact our agriculture, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
"It also has a potential to be a threat to our grape and orchard industry here in the state of Ohio," said David Adkins with the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
That's something that concerns Klingshirn when it comes to his vineyard.
"They can kill the whole vine if a large infestation occurs and they are unchecked. Then they will completely cover the woody parts of the vines with many, many, many, many of them and they all suck the sap out of the wood of the vine and can completely kill the vines when they have sucked their fill," said Klingshirn.
If that happens it could lead to devastation for Klingshirn Winery.
"If we did nothing to control it, the vineyards would be just completely wiped out," said Klingshirn.
The spotted lanternfly is about an inch long and a half-inch wide.
One set of wings has gray and black spots. Another set of wings has patches of red and black with a white band.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture said if you see one, report it to them and if possible, send them a sample.
"There is a form on the website we have, ODA website, that they can fill out and send us a sample of the insect and/or a picture of it; so that we can come in and do a survey and see if this is an established population or is this a single hitchhiker that may have came in on a car, truck, or whatever," said Adkins.