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Wed, 21 Jul 1999
U.S. Studies Use of Bomb-Sniffing Wasps
UPI
19-JUL-99
AMES, Iowa, July 19 (UPI) -- Iowa researchers are studying the possible deployment of parasitic wasps to detect unexploded bombs on battlefields and thwart terrorist use of chemical and biological weapons.
The Pentagon has hired an Iowa research team to train bomb-sniffing wasps, which normally use their acute sense of smell to find caterpillars to serve as hosts for their offspring.
The study also is looking at the use of wasps to protect agricultural crops from pest infestation.
Researchers including Iowa State University's Tom Baker and U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist Jim Tumlinson say today wasps can learn to respond to and locate volatile chemicals.
The fast-flying insects use antennae to smell. They are easy to rear in large numbers for mass deployment.
Part of the research focuses on tuning wasps to the odor of cyclohexanol, trinitrotuluene (TNT) and other explosives ingredients. In flight tunnel experiments, wasps flew toward tubes emitting those bomb materials as well as vanilla and methyl jasmonate.
Someday the wasps may be trained to behave in certain ways when they detect specific chemicals.
Another possible application involves using wasp antennae as the key part of a biological sensor system. Such sensors could be mounted on unmanned, automated vehicles and rolled into a dangerous area.
Researchers say the wasps also might be used to clear unexploded land mines and patrol areas where toxic chemicals are stored.
The four-year study is funded by Controlled Biological Systems, a branch of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency.
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