@article{5d893987f55e414db201eba54c9834ce,
title = "Towards the automated identification of Chrysomya blow flies from wing images",
abstract = "The Old World screwworm fly (OWSF), Chrysomya bezziana (Diptera: Calliphoridae), is an important agent of traumatic myiasis and, as such, a major human and animal health problem. In the implementation of OWSF control operations, it is important to determine the geographical origins of such disease-causing species in order to establish whether they derive from endemic or invading populations. Gross morphological and molecular studies have demonstrated the existence of two distinct lineages of this species, one African and the other Asian. Wing morphometry is known to be of substantial assistance in identifying the geographical origin of individuals because it provides diagnostic markers that complement molecular diagnostics. However, placement of the landmarks used in traditional geometric morphometric analysis can be time-consuming and subject to error caused by operator subjectivity. Here we report results of an image-based approach to geometric morphometric analysis for delivering wing-based identifications. Our results indicate that this approach can produce identifications that are practically indistinguishable from more traditional landmark-based results. In addition, we demonstrate that the direct analysis of digital wing images can be used to discriminate between three Chrysomya species of veterinary and forensic importance and between C. bezziana genders.",
keywords = "Calliphoridae, Chrysomya bezziana, Chrysomya megacephala, Chrysomya rufifacies, Old World screwworm fly, automated identification, biogeography, image classification, morphometrics, sexual dimorphism",
author = "N. Macleod and Hall, {M. J.R.} and Wardhana, {A. H.}",
note = "Funding Information: The authors thank the Natural History Museum (London) and the Indonesian Research Centre for Veterinary Science for supporting this research and providing funding to continue their collaboration in this area. The authors are grateful to Burgert Muller, Ros Urban and Erica McAlister for enabling their study of specimens of Chrysomya bezziana from the collections of the Natal Museum, the National Collection of Insects, Pretoria (South Africa) and the Natural History Museum (London), respectively. Two anonymous reviewers made comments on a Funding Information: The authors thank the Natural History Museum (London) and the Indonesian Research Centre for Veterinary Science for supporting this research and providing funding to continue their collaboration in this area. The authors are grateful to Burgert Muller, Ros Urban and Erica McAlister for enabling their study of specimens of Chrysomya bezziana from the collections of the Natal Museum, the National Collection of Insects, Pretoria (South Africa) and the Natural History Museum (London), respectively. Two anonymous reviewers made comments on a previous version of this article which resulted in substantial clarification of the arguments put forward, but are in no way responsible for any remaining commission or omission errors. Their contributions are gratefully acknowledged. The authors are also grateful to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA; Vienna, Austria) for funding the insect collecting in Indonesia (grants TC14842 and RC14860). All image processing and data analysis operations were performed with Wolfram Mathematica? software written for this project by the senior author. All Mathematica? notebooks used in this investigation are available from the corresponding author upon request. Funding Information: previous version of this article which resulted in substantial clarification of the arguments put forward, but are in no way responsible for any remaining commission or omission errors. Their contributions are gratefully acknowledged. The authors are also grateful to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA; Vienna, Austria) for funding the insect collecting in Indonesia (grants TC14842 and RC14860). All image processing and data analysis operations were performed with Wolfram Mathematica{\texttrademark} software written for this project by the senior author. All Mathematica{\texttrademark} notebooks used in this investigation are available from the corresponding author upon request. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London. Medical and Veterinary Entomology {\textcopyright} 2018 Royal Entomological Society.",
year = "2018",
month = sep,
doi = "10.1111/mve.12302",
language = "English",
volume = "32",
pages = "323--333",
journal = "Medical and Veterinary Entomology",
issn = "0269-283X",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",
number = "3",
}
