EAST VILLAGE, Manhattan (PIX11) — As we move into June, the days are longer, the temperatures are higher, and what’s also increasing is the presence of bugs throughout the New York metro area.

One of the main culprits is the spotted lanternfly, which has been a menace to plants throughout the tri-state area since it arrived in droves a few years ago. The bugs are days or weeks away from growing into their adult stages, where they can do the most damage, and can procreate. That’s why a variety of people, from gardeners, to horticulturists, to entomologists are recommending that people eliminate as many of the insects now — in their juvenile stages — as possible.

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At the Creative Little Garden, a pocket park on East 6th Street between Avenues B and C, people like Darien Footé were enjoying a sunny, warm Tuesday.

“The swing is here, table is here,” Footé said, “so I like to eat here sometimes. Definitely a good space.”

However, he added, there’s one other aspect about the little park that’s disturbing.

“If they’re on me,” he said with a chuckle, “I got ’em.”

He was talking about spotted lanternfly nymphs. Dozens were evident on various plants in the verdant space. The pencil eraser-sized bugs are fairly easy to spot. They’re black with bright white spots on their bodies.

Mac Brandt, a hobbyist entomologist, said that despite their distinctive characteristics, people still may not know what they are. They’re more used to seeing the adult version — creatures with black-spotted grey wings, and a distinctive red color under each wing when they fly.

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“I get pictures from friends a lot asking, ‘What is this bug?'” Brandt said, “and I’m like, ‘That’s a nymph, and you’ve got to kill it, because it’s going to grow up and wreak havoc on the trees.”

In another, nearby community garden, El Sol Brillante, on East 12th Street, that’s exactly what the bugs did last summer to a tree that had been quite healthy.

As Brandt pointed out, now, early in the summer season, is a great time to eliminate the young bugs before they grow up, grow wings, and multiply. The hobbyist entomologist said they’ve been able to share that lesson in their other job.

“I’m a nanny, and all the kids want to do is find them and stomp them. Gives them purpose.”

Corey Blant, the director of urban agriculture at the New York Reclamation Project and a specialist in horticultural pest management, agreed.

“If you’re diligent enough and you’re really on top of it in the sort of spring moment right now,” Blant said, “Future You is going to be happier than if you just let [the bugs] run wild right now.”

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