CALS researchers discovered that everyday dogs and their owners can be trained to effectively sniff out destructive agricultural pests.
Forget squirrels. Your dog might have a nose for something far more important: saving vineyards, orchards, and forests from a destructive pest.
A new study from CALS researchers found that everyday pet dogs can be trained to sniff out egg masses of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect that’s advancing across the eastern and central U.S.
The study, led by Ph.D. student and experienced canine handler Sally Dickinson, found that dog-owner teams — many with only hobby-level scent training — could detect lanternfly egg masses with surprising accuracy, rivaling professional detection dogs.
“This study shows that pet owners can make a real impact in protecting agriculture and the environment from invasive species,” Dickinson said.
The spotted lanternfly, native to Asia, was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014. Since then, it's spread rapidly to 18 states, laying its eggs on trees, stone, lumber, and even cars and trailers, where it can hitch a ride to a new home.
“Their egg masses often resemble mud smears or lichens and are tucked into bark crevices, cracks, or hidden undersides,” said Mizuho Nita, a plant pathologist at Virginia Tech’s Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center, who co-authored the study. “Finding them is like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
But a dog’s nose, tens of thousands of times more sensitive than a human’s, can find them with ease.
Because professional scent dogs are costly and in short supply, the research team turned to pet dogs and their owners already doing scent-detection as a hobby. More than 1,000 people volunteered. Ultimately, 182 dog-handler teams from across the country were selected and trained using devitalized, non-hatching egg masses.
After several months of practice, the dogs were put to the test in two environments – one indoor and one outdoor.
The results? Dogs correctly identified the egg masses 82 percent of the time in the controlled tests. In real-world field trials, accuracy dropped to 61 percent — still better than many human searches. Teams that passed both tests went on to detect live egg masses with 92 percent success.
Study participant Bill Wellborn of Roanoke, Virginia, said his seven-year-old Tibetan terrier, Pepe, enjoyed the challenge. Over the course of six months, they trained with devitalized spotted lanternfly egg masses two or three times a week for 15 to 30 minutes.
“Anytime you can stimulate your dog, it’s good for them,” Wellborn said. “Pepe obviously enjoys it. And it’s a way we can take dog skills and training to help our community.”
Erica Feuerbacher, an animal behaviorist and Dickinson’s graduate advisor and co-author, says the findings show the untapped power of community science.
“There are thousands of people out there doing scent work with their dogs just for fun,” said Feuerbacher, an associate professor in the School of Animal Sciences. “What Sally’s study shows is that this can be more than a hobby — these citizen-scientists and their dogs can be a valuable resource for fighting the spread of an invasive pest.”
Sniffing out the spotted lanternfly may be just the beginning. In a companion study, the researchers found that trained pet dogs could also detect powdery mildew, a major fungal disease of grapes and vineyards, with over 90 percent accuracy.
Together, these studies point to a growing role for dogs — and their owners — in safeguarding agriculture.
Sally Dickinson led the research as a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech. Photo by Clark Dehart for Virginia Tech.
