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The use of sniffing dogs for the detection of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus

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Abstract

The red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) is the most serious pest of Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis Hort. ex Chabaud) and date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.). Early infestations of this invasive weevil are difficult to detect under field conditions. The adults are very elusive and not visible inside the dense frond of the palms. Efficient methods for detecting this pest are needed for its successful management under field conditions and in particular at ports of entry to avoid its' spreading via infested imported palms. The present study evaluated the ability of Rottweiler and Golden Retriever dogs (Canis familiaris L.) to detect Canary Island palms that were baited with RPW adults or larvae under field conditions. During these experiments, the dogs successfully detected 78% of the baits hidden in the crown of the palms. These encouraging results need to be confirmed by evaluation of the performance of sniffing dogs in detection of naturally infested palms of different species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Renato Inserra of the Division of Plant Industry, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, for having read and commented on an early version of this paper, and the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreements: No. FP7 KBBE 2011-5-289566 Grant "Palm Protect" that is allowing us to continue the research aimed at evaluating the ability of the dogs in early detection of the palm trees infested by the red palm weevil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agri-food and Environmental Systems Management, Section of Applied Entomology, University of Catania, via S. Sofia 100, 95123, Catania, Italy

    Pompeo Suma, Alessandra La Pergola & Santi Longo

  2. Department of Entomology, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel

    Victoria Soroker

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  1. Pompeo Suma
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  2. Alessandra La Pergola
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  3. Santi Longo
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  4. Victoria Soroker
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Correspondence to Pompeo Suma.

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Suma, P., La Pergola, A., Longo, S. et al. The use of sniffing dogs for the detection of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus . Phytoparasitica 42, 269–274 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-013-0330-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-013-0330-0

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