WASHINGTON — Spotted lanternflies may be native to China, but they have made their way to the United States and can now be found anywhere from New England to New York City, all the way down into the Carolina's, and as far west as Illinois.
The invasive species is causing chaos and devastating effects on the agricultural and forestry industries. They attack everything from peach and apple trees to hops and grapes, causing $40 billion in losses a year.
They are known as "hitchhikers," because that's exactly what they do! These bugs travel across the country by latching on to trucks and vehicles.
Now, researchers at Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are hoping Fidos like Flint the Border Collie can sniff out the eggs of this insect in what’s being unofficially called the Canine Citizen Science Study
"Dogs' detection abilities equates to basically a teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic-size swimming pool," explains Sally Dickinson, a Doctoral Student at Virginia Tech. "With the number of acres that, for example, a vineyard might cover. It would take a human hours and hours and hours. And oftentimes the accuracy of the human is pretty limited."
Dickinson adds, "If we can make sure that they are only detecting the egg masses, we can set them forth in a couple acre field or vineyard. And they'd be able to tell us at least where significant quantities of those egg masses are. And at that point, once the farmers or vineyard owners know that then they can take action against it."
Virginia Tech partnered with researchers at Texas Tech University on this project, which was funded by an almost half million-dollar grant from the US Department of Agriculture.
And a reminder as we all start spending more time outside, if you see a spotted lanternfly, you’re supposed to kill it! For more information on how you can report bug sightings and submit samples in Maryland click here. For reports in Virginia click here.
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