Take a swipe at the fly: fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) identification through mobile applications

Abstract

Morphological identification of adult insects traditionally relies on the use of dichotomous keys which are generally not easily accessible and/or problematic to be used by the non-specialist. The lack of easy and readily available tools hampers a swift and timely identification, of crucial importance in detection and surveillance programmes. Contemporary digital and communication technology offers possibilities for the development of alternative identification tools. Within the framework of two projects (EU Horizon 2020 project 818184 FF-IPM; and STDF PG 567 project F³) the development of such tools is envisaged.