Everyone knows about working dogs in the Australian bush, but even farmers will be surprised by what two clever canines have been trained to do by Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (QDPI&F). 

 Shakeel, a Rottweiler/Kelpie cross, and Floyd, a young black Labrador, can sniff out Heliothis pupae where they over-winter beneath the soil.

Shakeel and Floyd are trained and handled by Greg Horrocks, of QDPI&F’s Detector Dog Unit, with the support of the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) and Monsanto.

But their work also has implications for graingrowers in northern New South Wales and Queensland, many of whom rotate cotton with grain.

Heliothis threatened the future of the cotton industry in the north a few years back, until they were controlled by a combination of resistant varieties and integrated pest management (IPM).

Part of the IPM is a process called pupae-busting, strategic cultivation of paddocks known to contain the next generation of Heliothis, sheltered in the soil.

Dr Dave Murray, a principal entomologist with QDPI&F, says pupae busting was a necessary part of the IPM program, but unwelcome to many growers committed to conservation farming and zero or minimum tillage.

And, as the successful IPM/resistant variety combination reduced Heliothis numbers, those pupae became harder to find. The process of finding them in soil, conventionally carried out with trowels, became frustrating to the people involved.

Enter Shakeel and, more recently, her apprentice Floyd, happy to take over the hard grind of finding the reduced pupae populations. 

Although the detector dog project was backed by the Cotton RDC and the Monsanto company, Dave Murray says the work is important for the wider heliothis research effort, including the role of refuges in the resistance management program.

Eventually the dogs might be called in by growers to search commercial paddocks for Heliothis pupae.

Meantime Shaquille and Floyd also do a wonderful public relations job for the cropping industry and QDPI&F. Dave says everyone loves them, from the kids to their grandparents.      

Incidentally the QDPI&F dog training team has also trained dogs to detect organo-chlorine contamination in the environment. These dogs have worked widely across Australia and also overseas.

Dave Murray leads a major Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) insect management project.