Citizen Scientists ‘Scrape for the Grape’ in Virginia

Citizen Science to the Rescue!
Scrape for the Grape Eliminates Millions of Spotted Lanternflies in Virginia

On Saturday, April 6, 2024, nearly 400 Loudoun County, VA, residents rose up in defense of their beloved vineyards and wineries to “Scrape for the Grape.” This innovative and fun citizen science initiative unleashed volunteers armed with credit-card-sized Scrape for the Grape scrapers to seek and destroy Spotted Lanternfly egg masses in local vineyards and public spaces and tag Trees of Heaven for removal. Or as they put it, “to help keep Loudoun’s vineyards spotted-less.”

Created by Visit Loudoun in partnership with the Loudoun Invasive Removal Alliance (LIRA), Loudoun County Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Loudoun Wineries & Winegrowers Association, Scrape for the Grape gathered volunteers at 14 locations around the area. There, event organizers educated teams of volunteers on the threat SLF poses to the local wine and greater agritourism industries, showed them how to identify both SLF egg masses and Tree of Heaven, its preferred and protective host. “Spotted lanternfly feeding from Tree of Heaven’s sap makes it unpalatable to predators, so no natural enemies will feed on it,” said Beth Sastre, commercial horticulturist with Virginia Cooperative Extension Loudoun.

Organizers equipped participants with branded scrapers (though some volunteers opted for their own ice scrapers) and bandanas, then sent them on the hunt.

Over the course of the four-hour event, “the volunteers removed 16,798 egg masses, most likely totaling around 590,000 individual eggs,” said Andrew (Drew) Harner, Assistant Professor of Viticulture and Extension Specialist with Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension. Following the bugs through their prolific reproductive lifecycle, it’s estimated that those eggs would’ve yielded 1 million or more adult SLF.

“Coupled with the volunteers’ identification of 147 Tree of Heaven trees that’ll also be removed, these efforts are a tremendous service to the local winegrape community,” Drew added.

To show appreciation for their efforts, 14 wineries as well as Bear Chase Brewery offered special discounts, complimentary pours and other incentives for volunteers who came in with their branded Scrape for the Grape bandanas. Local bakery Mom’s Apple Pie also provided a free cookie to participating children.

“I can’t think of a more impactful awareness event than what Scrape for the Grape accomplished this weekend,” President of LIRA Mike Littman said. “It was a great example of (the community) coming together for the greater good while educating residents on the growing threat of invasives to our economy, health and safety, and environment.”

“I was amazed at the community outpouring that came to help save our vineyards from spotted lanternflies,” Bluemont Vineyard Winemaker Scott Spelbring said. “Though it was cloudy and cold, our volunteers were complete rockstars. Seeing the sea of volunteers in red bandanas across the vineyards was heartwarming.”

“My daughter said it was like an easter egg hunt without the chocolate reward,” said one volunteer. “But she got her cookie from Mom’s so that counts.”

This year is the 40th anniversary of the Loudoun wine industry, known as DC’s Wine Country®. Loudoun leads the state with more than 50 wineries and 850-plus acres under vine producing 2,300 tons of 25-plus varieties of grapes annually.

Update: Inspired by the success of the first Scrape, a follow-up event was held on Sunday, April 14, 2024, at Bluemont Vineyard. Volunteers there removed an additional 17,622 egg masses. Assuming 35 eggs per mass, that translates to approximately 616,770 more eggs destroyed, effectively doubling the Scrape the Grape total to a whopping 2 million spotted lanternflies eliminated.

This story was compiled from two press releases published by Visit Loudon, both viewable here. It also was informed by news stories like this one.