Originally dubbed the “Super Ninja Lantern Shark” by the nephews of the researcher who discovered it, this glowing, deep-sea mystery still leaves a lot of questions unanswered. This shark sounds like it was named by 8-year-olds, and it was. Off the Western coast of South America, 800 to 1,400m deep Ninja Lanternshark Facts Overview Habitat: The Ninja Lanternshark is a new species of deep-sea predator, discovered by an expedition in 2015 by a researcher at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. This stealthy hunter uses a peculiar camouflage to hunt in the dark without being seen, and until recently, has remained right under our noses without being spotted. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Off the coast of Nicaragua, at the verge of the aphotic zone, is a jet-black stalker, able to use a special light to blend into the mild blue fog of the remnants of day. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. Also, if you see a spotted lanternfly in a place where they're not already known to exist, take a picture and send it to your state department of agriculture. But if you want to wear gloves, by all means. The lanternflies are not poisonous, and they don't bite. You don't have to worry about your own health when you're doing this. SEGARRA: You'll have to do a little scraping to get them off, and then put them in a sealable bag with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer to kill them, and throw them in the trash. RAMSEY: The egg masses are the most vulnerable stage in their life cycle and also the easiest stage for you to just kind of grab and toss it into a plastic bag and never have to worry about it again. We've heard people say they look like old chewing gum. The egg masses can be white or gray or tan or even match with the bark. If you live in a hot spot, you'll start to see these egg masses on the trees, and each one has about 50 eggs in it. He says we also need to go after lanternfly eggs. Some people build wire cages around them to make that less likely. SEGARRA: Unfortunately, Ramsey says, the bands can also trap other creatures, which we don't want. They can't extricate themselves from it, and as a result, they starve there and die. So another approach is to use sticky bands - glue traps that wrap around the trees and catch the lanternflies. SEGARRA: That said, if you've ever tried to stomp on one of these beautiful menaces, you will know that they are jumpers. RAMSEY: This is the part where I tell you to choose violence. RAMSEY: It can make plants less productive because they're getting less food. And there are fungi that develop on top of this goo, which makes it harder for the leaves to carry out photosynthesis. And so when they are excreting, it is a huge volume of sugar in fluid that they are flicking out of their back end. They feed on fluids that are almost exclusively sugar. RAMSEY: It is the excrement of the spotted lanternfly. And then later, my neighbor says to me, have you noticed all these drops all over the sidewalk? Then we figured out that it was bug goo the lanternflies had left on top of the leaves. Recently, I walked out of my house, and something sticky dripped on my head. SEGARRA: They can also do damage to young trees and saplings. In addition to that, they go after apples. RAMSEY: So when they attach themselves to grapes, they can taint the taste of wine itself by changing the sugar and water content. These guys have never met a grape they didn't like. SEGARRA: But here in the U.S., spotted lanternflies do not have specialized predators, so they just keep making bug love and multiplying and causing problems - for instance, at vineyards. And that keeps an organism's populations low. SAMMY RAMSEY: In most ecosystems, insects like this have a specialist predator that is dedicated to going after this organism and is really, really good at it. Sammy Ramsey is an entomology professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. And in Southeast Asia, it is not at the top of the food chain. MARIELLE SEGARRA, BYLINE: The spotted lanternfly is from Southeast Asia. Marielle Segarra, host of NPR's Life Kit, reports on what we can do to help keep these gorgeous agents of chaos under control. It's kind of cute - colorful wings and, of course, lots of spots. The spotted lanternfly is on the loose in several states.
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