Detecting Stink Bugs/Damage in Cotton Utilizing a Portable Electronic Nose

The goal of this study was to develop effective and affordable tools for detecting stink bugs and stink bug induced damage in cotton production. A commercially available electronic nose (Cyranose 320) was used for this purpose and its performance was evaluated under laboratory and field conditions. The volatile compounds given off by stink bugs were identified to be trans-2-decenal and trans-2-octenal. The E-nose was trained to identify stink bugs' (presence) smell prints. Only four sensors, out of 32 available, responded to volatile chemicals produced by bugs. The same sensors showed identical responses (smell prints) to trans-2-decenal as compared to those obtained from sting bugs. Also, under laboratory conditions, the Cyranose accurately predicted damaged bolls, interior walls of bolls and locks with lint and seed approximately 95 percent of the time. Under laboratory conditions, the E-nose identified presence of stink bugs 100 percent of the time. There was a strong correlation (R2 = 0.95) between the number of sting bugs in a sample and the Cyranose sensors response. Under field conditions, the E-nose was able to identify stink bug damaged bolls 67% of the time.