Spotted Lanternfly inJefferson County, WVSPOTTED LANTERNFLY GUIDE

Jefferson County is West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle county — confirmed for SLF in 2018 and geographically encircled by two of the most heavily infested states in the nation. The county shares borders with Virginia to the south and east and Maryland to the north, placing it squarely within the infestation zone formed by the Shenandoah Valley and Potomac River corridor populations. Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, one of the most historically significant sites in the United States, sits at the dramatic tri-state corner where the Shenandoah River meets the Potomac — a natural SLF dispersal nexus where populations from multiple heavily infested corridors converge. The I-81 corridor through the Eastern Panhandle carries heavy freight and commuter traffic connecting the county to Virginia's established SLF zones to the south and Maryland's quarantine zone to the north. Shepherdstown, home of Shepherd University, is the county's most prominent academic community and an active SLF monitoring zone.