There are hundreds of invasive species in the United States, although the spotted lanternfly is the only one I know of that has ever had its own segment on Saturday Night Live. People are probably familiar with them because they’re novel, easily recognizable and the average hiker or homeowner can casually crush them — and feel pretty good about doing something for the environment in the process.
A large part of the western US lacks good habitat for the spotted lanternfly, acting as a natural physical barrier to their spread from one coast to the other. But human activity changes the equation. The thousands of vehicles that crisscross the country on a daily basis provide possible rides for spotted lanternflies to bypass unsuitable habitat and end up in places where they thrive.