Urgent Warning For Michigan From Pittsburgh: SQUISH THIS BUG

Ironically, I saw a billboard from the State of Michigan urging residents to "SEE IT, SQUISH IT, REPORT IT" while on my way to a city only 5 hours from Lansing, where I would be hit in the head while walking through the streets of downtown, not once, but twice by a spotted lanternfly. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is crawling with this invasive species. I mean it, CRAWLING.

As someone who sometimes has to be hit over the head with something before I can fully grasp it, getting hit in my ample forehead by spotted lanternflies was perfect. These bugs will be a problem IF we don't start doing something that, frankly, I'm not a big fan of: Squishing bugs (the cleanup--yuck).

Michigan has giant billboards that, in no uncertain terms, encourage you to kill these bugs. I'm tempted to say something like, "Hollywood couldn't even come up with something like this," but they did.

Get our free mobile app

The campy but fantastic "Starship Troopers," whose heroes faced the invasion of bugs from another planet, featured propaganda videos encouraging the citizens of Earth to do their part and "Kill the bug!" While spotted lanternflies can't shoot burning projectiles from their abdomen (it's a terrible, good movie), they pose a tremendous threat to Michigan's native plant and animal species.

The first sighting of a spotted lanternfly was in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 2014. Fast forward a decade or so, and now this invasive species is so comfortable in Pittsburgh they'll join you for dinner.

According to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the spotted lanternfly has the potential to have a devasting impact on the state's agriculture, estimated to cost farmers hundreds of millions of dollars.

RELATED: Protect Michigan's Apple Crop, Destroy This Bug On Site

As we drove back to Michigan from Pittsburgh, crossing back into the Mitten State, the next billboard I saw that said "SEE IT, SQUISH IT, REPORT IT" hit a little differently. It may be time to invest in bug-squishing shoes, paper towels, and spray cleaners--or else Michigan might be crawling with spotted lanternflies, too. Here's a closer look at the spotted lantern flies of downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Of course, spotted lanternflies aren't the ONLY invasive bug Michigan is contending with. How about one that has already taken over the Mitten: