Toward an Automated Identification of Anastrepha Fruit Flies in the fraterculus group (Diptera, Tephritidae)

In this study, we assess image analysis techniques as automatic identifiers of three Anastrepha species of quarantine importance, Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann), Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart), and Anastrepha sororcula Zucchi, based on wing and aculeus images. The right wing and aculeus of 100 individuals of each species were mounted on microscope slides, and images were captured with a stereomicroscope and light microscope. For wing image analysis, we used the color descriptor Local Color Histogramfor aculei, we used the contour descriptor Edge Orientation Autocorrelogram. A Support Vector Machine classifier was used in the final stage of wing and aculeus classification. Very accurate species identifications were obtained based on wing and aculeus images, with average accuracies of 94 and 95%, respectively. These results are comparable to previous identification results based on morphometric techniques and to the results achieved by experienced entomologists. Wing and aculeus images produced equally accurate classifications, greatly facilitating the identification of these species. The proposed technique is therefore a promising option for separating these three closely related species in the fraterculus group.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Genectis & Evolutionary Biol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Inst Sci & Technol, Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP, BrazilUniv Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Anim Biol, Campinas, SP, BrazilUniv Estadual Campinas, Inst Comp, Campinas, SP, BrazilAPTA, Inst Biol, Econ Entomol Lab, Campinas, SP, BrazilInstitute of Science and Technology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São José dos Campos, BrasilFAPESP: 09/54806-0FAPESP: 14/16082-9Web of Scienc