In a recently published proof-of-concept study, it was found that community scientists (trained volunteer dog handlers) and their canine companions (with previous experience in sport scent detection competition), were capable of reliably detecting spotted lanternfly egg masses. After a 3- to 6-month period of independent and non-standardized training, detection teams from across the U.S. were found to successfully detect spotted lanternfly egg odor 82% of the time under controlled conditions and 58% of the time in field conditions.
The spread of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive planthopper presenting a significant threat to agriculture, is most effectively managed through the prompt detection and removal of egg masses. The masses are often inconspicuously located and for this reason human detection is considered inefficient and impractical. Due to a shortage of professionally trained conservation detection dog teams capable of accurately identifying egg mass locations, these results, assessing the efficacy of non-professional volunteer detection teams consisting of various breeds, represents a promising and scalable approach to invasive species management.
An interesting limitation of the study is that, without a clearly trained alert behavior, some handlers may have potentially misread their dogs, which would have resulted in overlooked detections. This raises the possibility that success rates could have been higher with more discrete alerts and/or handler training.