Construction, implementation and testing of an image identification system using computer vision methods for fruit flies with economic importance (Diptera: Tephritidae)

BACKGROUND Many species of Tephritidae are damaging to fruit, which might negatively impact international fruit trade. Automatic or semi‐automatic identification of fruit flies are greatly needed for diagnosing causes of damage and quarantine protocols for economically relevant insects. RESULTS A fruit fly image identification system named AFIS1.0 has been developed using 74 species belonging to six genera, which include the majority of pests in the Tephritidae. The system combines automated image identification and manual verification, balancing operability and accuracy. AFIS1.0 integrates image analysis and expert system into a content‐based image retrieval framework. In the the automatic identification module, AFIS1.0 gives candidate identification results. Afterwards users can do manual selection based on comparing unidentified images with a subset of images corresponding to the automatic identification result. The system uses Gabor surface features in automated identification and yielded an overall classification success rate of 87% to the species level by Independent Multi‐part Image Automatic Identification Test. CONCLUSION The system is useful for users with or without specific expertise on Tephritidae in the task of rapid and effective identification of fruit flies. It makes the application of computer vision technology to fruit fly recognition much closer to production level. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry