Entomologist explains why we're seeing so many spotted lanternflies

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Unless you spent all weekend indoors, you likely saw the fast-flying spotted lanternflies in your neighborhood. 

Officials want you to smush them, but what if there are hundreds?

"Earlier in the season, we saw like a whole bunch of the nymphs, like the baby phase of them, just eating the roots like crazy," said Munhall resident Marshall Miller.

But all babies grow up eventually, and adulthood has given them wings.

"Now we're starting to see them and getting a lot more reports of them because they're flying away from their host plants to other plants to homes and so forth," said Chad Gore, an entomologist with Ehrlich Pest Control.

KDKA-TV asked Gore about what they're looking for. 

"Well starting here pretty soon, they're gonna be after looking for egglaying sites. They don't overwinter as adults, they overwinter as eggs so adult females have to find a place to lay their eggs," Gore said. 

So they're racing the clock to find safe spots to not only feed but lay those babies. That means if your home's landscaping wins "best on the block," be prepared.

"The more plants you have, which are nice to have, flowering plants and trees and so forth -- they're nice to have but you also have to deal with the insects and the different animals that like those things," Gore said. 

Even though it can seem like they're jumping out at you, they don't bite. Their mouths are designed to just suck on plants and trees, and they only have an appetite for plants.