USA Today:
Scientists at a Georgia laboratory have developed what could be a low-tech, low-cost weapon in the war on terrorism: trained wasps.
The tiny, non-stinging wasps can check for hidden explosives at airports and monitor for toxins in subway tunnels.
“You can rear them by the thousands, and you can train them within a matter of minutes,” says Joe Lewis, a U.S. Agriculture Department entomologist. “This is just the very tip of the iceberg of a very new resource.”
Lewis and others at the University of Georgia-Tifton Campus developed a handheld “Wasp Hound” to contain the wasps while they sniff out chemicals and other substances.
Lewis and his partner, University of Georgia biological engineer Glen Rains, say their device is ready for pilot tests and could be available for commercial use in five to 10 years.
Rains says the wasps could one day be used instead of dogs to check for explosives in cargo containers coming in to the nation's seaports, in vehicles crossing at border checkpoints, at airports and anywhere else where security should be tight.
“It's real easy to learn how to work with them,” he says about the wasps. “You could show somebody what to do in 30 to 40 minutes. And they're very specific in what they learn.”
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