Sniffer dogs to track down stink bug pests
Sniffer dogs could be given the scent of dead stink bugs to track down rogue populations of the noxious pests if they ever enter the country, a scientist says.
The Ministry for Primary Industries has been working with the Department of Agriculture in the United States to see if dogs can pick up the scent of dead brown marmorated stink bugs.
Ministry response advisor Catherine Duthie said the bugs released a scent when they were disturbed which together smelled terrible, and individually smelled like either dried coriander or old socks.
The trial in the US had been successful, which meant the ministry could call on tracker dogs, including breeds such as border collies and labradors, from other organisations if the bugs breached the borders.
The canine biosecurity helpers would be given a whiff of the dead bugs, before being released to find the invaders in a fashion Duthie admitted was similar to police dogs tracking down criminals.
‘‘We know we can get sniffer dogs into the field at short notice if required,’’ she said.
Department of Conservation external dog handler Alastair Judkins said detector dogs would be an invaluable tool for finding the stink bugs.
‘‘The fact this bug is called a stink bug makes me think it’s got a pretty good odour, so it would surprise me if dogs weren’t already being used in the United States,’’ he said.
Some conservation dogs in New Zealand were trained to find a single species of ant, or type of gecko, and dogs overseas had also been trained to detect breast cancer with the same degree of accuracy as a mammogram, he said.
‘‘With dogs you’re only limited by your sense of imagination in terms of what you want them to find, the more we learn and work with them the more we’re realising what remarkable animals they are.’’
His dog Mena, a Hungarian Vizsla, had been trained to find little blue penguins and yelloweyed penguins in Kaikoura.
Duthie said if the stink bugs got into New Zealand the consequences could be huge, not just for the horticultural sector but for homeowners up and down the country.
In the US and Italy, where the pest had reached plague proportions in some areas, homeowners had to contend with invasions of stink bugs during winter when they clumped together to hibernate.
Because of the scent, homeowners could not crush the bugs, and they were fairly resistant to many chemcial sprays, so the best choice was to vacuum them up, Duthie said.
‘‘There’s hardly anyone in New Zealand that wouldn’t be affected if they were to come here,’’ she said.
The ministry was on high alert to stop the bugs, because they were starting to hibernate in the northern hemisphere and clump together, hiding in export products that could arrive in the country.
Between January last year and April, 406 stink bugs were intercepted by border staff, however there had been no confirmed cases of bugs being spotted in the environment.
The hitch-hiking intruders had come into the country on everything from barbie dolls to mortuary equipment, however farming machinery and cars were particularly suspect.
As a result of the threat, all vehicles and machinery coming in from the US had to be either fumigated or heat-treated before being exported to New Zealand, Duthie said.
Because the Marlborough wine industry imported a lot of equipment from Italy they were being encouraged to be particularly vigilant.
The bug mainly caused cosmetic damage as it feasted on fruit and vegetables, but if it were to be crushed along with grapes for wine it could taint the juice, Duthie said.
It also resulted in more sprays being used to keep it under control, which was a difficult endeavour as it was highly mobile so residual sprays were fairly ineffective.
Duthie said in the US, some farmers had gone from spraying twice a season to twice a week and still losing up to 40 per cent of their crops because of the stink bug.
The ministry was using advertising, partly funded by members of an industry working group, in places such as the Metservice website and gardening magazines to raise public awareness about the bug.
Anyone who sees one, contact the ministry on 0800 80 99 66.