Recent advances in the remote sensing of insects

• Published in: Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Vol. 97; no. 1; pp. 343 - 360
• Main Authors: Rhodes, Marcus W., Bennie, Jonathan J., Spalding, Adrian, ffrench‐Constant, Richard H., Maclean, Ilya M. D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-02-2022
• Subjects: Animals; drone; Drone aircraft; Ecological research; Ecosystem; entomology; habitat; Insect ecology; Insecta; Insects; LiDAR; Light pollution; Light sources; Luminosity; Microclimate; Movement ecology; radar; Radar detection; Remote observing; Remote sensing; Remote Sensing Technology; satellite; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; Spectral resolution; thermal imaging; unmanned aerial vehicle; Vegetation; light pollution; radar; habitat; microclimate; unmanned aerial vehicle; LiDAR; entomology; satellite; drone; thermal imaging
• ISSN: 1464-7931; 1469-185X
• DOI: 10.1111/brv.12802

ABSTRACT
Remote sensing has revolutionised many aspects of ecological research, enabling spatiotemporal data to be collected in an efficient and highly automated manner. The last two decades have seen phenomenal growth in capabilities for high‐resolution remote sensing that increasingly offers opportunities to study small, but ecologically important organisms, such as insects. Here we review current applications for using remote sensing within entomological research, highlighting the emerging opportunities that now arise through advances in spatial, temporal and spectral resolution. Remote sensing can be used to map environmental variables, such as habitat, microclimate and light pollution, capturing data on topography, vegetation structure and composition, and luminosity at spatial scales appropriate to insects. Such data can also be used to detect insects indirectly from the influences that they have on the environment, such as feeding damage or nest structures, whilst opportunities for directly detecting insects are also increasingly available. Entomological radar and light detection and ranging (LiDAR), for example, are transforming our understanding of aerial insect abundance and movement ecology, whilst ultra‐high spatial resolution drone imagery presents tantalising new opportunities for direct observation. Remote sensing is rapidly developing into a powerful toolkit for entomologists, that we envisage will soon become an integral part of insect science.