Wasps offer crime sting

November 18, 2001 Posted: 6:39 AM EST (1139 GMT)

LONDON, England -- When it comes to fighting crime, the humble wasp
seems an unlikely ally -- but according to a Dutch scientist, the insects could
soon rival sniffer dogs for their ability to root out bombs and drugs. 

Wasps are cheap, quick learners and more effective than dogs in terms of finding
substances ranging from marijuana to explosives, according biologist Felix
Waeckers -- and he even believes that one day wasps could be used to track down
chemical and biological weapons. 

He says the insects have been conditioned in lab tests to associate a particular smell
with food. When they pick up the scent, they move their heads in a feeding
motion. 

The movement is too slight to pick up with the naked eye, but can be monitored
with electronic sensors. 

Waeckers, of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, says the movement could be
used to alert police searching for bombs or drugs at airports and ports. 

He said: "Everywhere we are now using dogs for investigations we might be able to
use wasps in the future." 

Waeckers says the wasps would be carried in special containers and fed air samples
taken from suspect areas. Their movements would then be monitored. 

The Bracon wasp -- a parasite which lays its eggs in the larvae of other insects -- can
be trained in less than an hour, he says, while training a sniffer dog can take around
six months. 

"The antennae of wasps are more sensitive to certain substances than a dog's nose.
They have proven to be very good learners," said Waeckers. 

The scientist has worked with the U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA)to investigate the possible use of wasps in fighting
crime. 

Waeckers said he regarded the idea as "pure science fiction" when he began the
project four years ago, but although wasps have yet to used as crime fighters
outside the laboratory he now believes might be only a couple of years before they
are ready to replace sniffer dogs. 

"It's cheaper and they can be trained more rapidly. The training of these wasps can
take less than an hour -- and the procedure for training a dog is more complex,"
Waeckers said. 

"The downside is that they live for just a couple of months. And dogs have a
personality. Wasps don't have that."