An 11-year-old Labrador mix named Fozzie was training to be a service dog, but washed out of the program. That’s when Scott Hurst (pictured) decided to adopt the pup, and now Fozzie has found his calling. Nose pressed to the ground, Fozzie eagerly weaves through rows of bushes on a berry farm in Blacksburg, Virginia. He was on a mission to find the eggs of one of the most destructive invasive species ravaging the eastern United States: the spotted lanternfly. Along the Atlantic coast, the inch-long bug with scarlet underwings can be found plastered across windshields or flying into the faces of people trying to enjoy the joys of summer. Spotted lanternflies are more than a nuisance. With very few natural predators and a broad diet, these insects threaten vineyards, orchards, hardwood forests and urban ecosystems. Fozzie and his 4-legged colleagues are part of the resistance. A citizen-science program is training pet dogs to find the eggs before they hatch so they can be destroyed. It's revealing the surprising power of pet dogs' noses, with even unconventional sniffer-dog breeds like the humble pug able to play their part. Professionally trained working canines are expensive and scarce, sometimes fetching as much as $150,000 for a lanternfly detection dog. Pet dogs trained by their owners can detect lanternfly eggs with accuracy comparable to professional detection dogs, and they do it for free. Any breed can be trained. In fact, there’s data suggesting that pugs can outperform German Shepherds. For those living in areas affected by lanternflies, could your dog help? It's not too far-fetched.
