This agreement will develop new tools to identify five high priority pest beetle species and distinguish them from similar non-target species

The goal is to produce a validated, deployable identification tool and documentation to support faster, more reliable pest surveillance and biosecurity without needing expert taxonomists. Activities to be performed: use a keyence microscope system to produce images of both pest and native look-alike beetle species, with many anatomical views per specimen and focusing on diagnostic features. Develop a protocol using the keyence system to recognize these species. Deliverables and expected outcomes: this project will result in documentation describing the efficiency of the keyence microscope system to identify beetle pests. Standard operating procedures will be developed to identify beetles using this system. IT is expected that identifications will be more rapid, efficient, and accurate using this system. Intended beneficiary(IES): this system will benefit plant health safeguarding agencies by improving screening of important beetle species. These tools can be used by federal, state, and local identifiers who encounter these pests through domestic detections or surveys. Identifiers at ports of entry will also be able to perform more rapid on-site triage at inspection points and regional labs, reducing referral load to specialists.