The spotted lanternflies seem to have gone AWOL.

Just a year ago, New York City’s flashiest new insects were impossible to miss. At the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, these invasive insects were out in force, their crimson, polka-dot bodies blanketing the maple trees, marching along the grape vines and flitting around the diners at the cafe.

The insects, which were first detected in the city in 2020, accumulated in such numbers that Shauna Moore, the garden’s director of horticulture, found herself fielding regular calls and emails from visitors alarmed by what appeared to be a full-scale invasion of “these crazy new creatures,” she said.