Detection dogs seek out invasive lanternfly

Wildlife detection dogs are onto a new target these days—invasive spotted lanternflies. Scientists first confirmed spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) in Pennsylvania in 2014. The insects that originate from Asia have since spread to 18 other states, where they damage trees and other vegetation in forests and vineyards. Conservationists recently trained a Labrador retriever and a Belgian Malinois to sniff out the lanternflies in vineyards and forests in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Humans detected more egg masses than dogs in vineyards, where the females lay eggs than dogs, the researchers found in a study published in Ecosphere. But in forests where the lanternflies overwinter, the dogs had 3.4 times more detections than people. “The dogs find egg masses by smell,” said Angela Fuller, a professor in Cornell University’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. “So, in a very complex environment, it’s easier for a dog to smell something than it is for a human to see something that is small and cryptic.”

Read the study in Ecosphere.