Automated handling of biological objects with a flexible gripper for biodiversity research; [Automatisierte Handhabung biologischer Objekten mit einem flexiblen Greifer für die Biodiversitätsforschung]

With the increasing loss of insect species, their ecosystem services such as pollination of plants and pest control are also under threat. This means that more intense monitoring is needed, but this poses many challenges: Collecting is comparatively easy and carried out at many locations worldwide using standardized methods such as Malaise traps that preserve the specimens in ethanol. However, a comprehensive, systematic evaluation of these samples at the specimen-level is not yet possible due to the large number of specimens and the lack of taxonomic experts who can identify the specimens to species level. We thus here present a new mini-gripper for the automated handling of insects preserved in ethanol. The mini-gripper automatically picks insects from bulk samples as long as they are in the 7.5 mm–15 mm size range to be transferred to the DiversityScanner, where they are classified using a trained AI model. This automated approach is currently tested in an EU project to identify new invasive pests.