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AI helps to detect invasive Asian hornets

Artificial Intelligence can be used to detect invasive Asian hornets and raise the alarm, new research shows. University of Exeter researchers have developed VespAI, an automated system that attracts hornets to a monitoring station and

“VespAI does not kill non-target insects, and thus eliminates the environmental impact of trapping, while ensuring that live hornets can be caught and tracked back to the nest, which is the only effective way to destroy them.” Credit Peter J. Kennedy“That’s the benefit of our system – its high accuracy means that it won’t wrongly identify other species, or miss any Asian hornets that visit,” said Dr O’Shea-Wheller. “The proposed device may prove a powerful tool in the early determination of the presence of Asian hornets in an area, and thereby fills an important gap,” said Alistair Christie, Senior Scientific Officer for Invasive Species in Jersey, and part of the collaborative testing effort.

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