Insect pest monitoring with camera‑equipped traps: strengths and limitations

Integrated pest management relies on insect pest monitoring to support the decision of counteracting a given level of infestation
and to select the adequate control method. The classic monitoring approach of insect pests is based on placing in
single infested areas a series of traps that are checked by human operators on a temporal basis. This strategy requires high
labor cost and provides poor spatial and temporal resolution achievable by single operators. The adoption of image sensors
to monitor insect pests can result in several practical advantages. The purpose of this review is to summarize the progress
made on automatic traps with a particular focus on camera-equipped traps. The use of software and image recognition algorithms
can support automatic trap usage to identify and/or count insect species from pictures. Considering the high image
resolution achievable and the opportunity to exploit data transfer systems through wireless technology, it is possible to have
remote control of insect captures, limiting field visits. The availability of real-time and on-line pest monitoring systems from
a distant location opens the opportunity for measuring insect population dynamics constantly and simultaneously in a large
number of traps with a limited human labor requirement. The actual limitations are the high cost, the low power autonomy
and the low picture quality of some prototypes together with the need for further improvements in fully automated pest
detection. Limits and benefits resulting from several case studies are examined with a perspective for the future development
of technology-driven insect pest monitoring and management.