Sniffer dogs bring a new approach to macadamia pest detection

South Africa’s macadamia growers are getting help from an unconventional scouting team: trained detection dogs.

Luna Hounds, a specialist canine company with roots in anti-poaching work, says its teams can identify the scent associated with macadamia felted coccid infestations. Engineering News reports that its collaboration with Green Farms Nut Company has focused on orchards with uncertain pest status and the potential to screen nursery material.

The target is a small insect with potentially serious consequences. Macadamia felted coccid, Acanthococcus ironsidei, feeds on plant sap. According to SAMAC, it infests trunks and branches and, at high densities, can spread to leaves, flowers and nut husks. Damage includes distorted foliage, premature fruit drop, stunted growth and branch dieback, with resulting losses in yield.

Luna Hounds reports detection accuracy of up to 99% and says a trained team can search approximately one hectare in 11 minutes where no infestation is present. Handlers record findings, mark affected trees and provide growers with a report. These are company-reported performance figures, rather than an independent assessment by Mac Daily.

For growers, the practical question is whether scent detection can improve decisions about where to investigate and intervene. Identifying suspected hotspots could help focus follow-up inspections and treatment. Lower insecticide use is a potential benefit, but the reporting reviewed for this article does not quantify pesticide savings.

The damage described by SAMAC also makes clear why orchard monitoring matters: an infestation can affect both the tree and its crop. Canine alerts should be treated as information to investigate and assess within the wider pest-management programme, rather than as a guarantee that an orchard is pest-free.

The next measure of success will be practical: how consistently the teams perform across orchard conditions, how alerts are confirmed, and whether better targeting delivers measurable savings and healthier trees. For an industry managing a damaging pest, that makes detection dogs an approach worth evaluating.