Proceedmqe of the 7th Iniernatumal Working Conference on. Stored-product Protection - Volume 2

The study on multimedia expert system of plant quarantinepests identification (PQ-Pickbugs )

LI Zhihong , Shen Zuorur", Geng BmgJln, Wang YIJun and Chen Hongjurr'

Abstract

The quarantine of gram reserves and other agriculturalproducts is a staple business in port plant quarantine. Insphere of the picked msect pests, some are quarantine pestsand the others are their similar species. How to Identify thequarantme msect pests and therr similar species rapidly andaccurately IS an urgent need for port plant quarantine. Thefacts demonstrate this task could be accomphshed by moderncomputer technologyPQ-PIckBugs, a multimedia expert system for plant

quarantme pest identifrcauon, is a software system, whichhas been developed by means of multimedia technology andprogrammmg with VIsual BaSIC ThIS system contams 127quarantine msect pests and their SImilar species, providesthree functional categories, namely, the msectidentification, the msect information inquiry, and the insectknowledge qUIZ. PQ-PIckBugs can serve users With rehableknowledge of the msect idennficanon and plentiful basicinformation about the msect pests, m both forms of text andImagery. So, this system IS fnendly to quarantine staff ateither low or high level of education PQ-PIckBugs wasappraised highly at a meetmg that was orgamzed by theAdnumstration of Animal and Plant Quarantine of Chma inMarch 1998.

Introduction

For about half of century, especially from 1980s, computertechnology has mfluenced all-around actrvmes of humansociety deeply As a special field of plant protection, plantquarantine is gettmg more In the use of computer andexerting more important effects in the trade of import andexport of agricultural products, preventing dangerous pestinroad and ensuring sus tamable development of agriculturem China. Chmese government IS makmg greater efforts to

1 Department of Entomology, the Chma Agricultural Umversity,Beljlg, 100094, Chma Phone: (86)010-62893015, Email. zrshen@ public bta net en

2 Beijmg Animal and Plant Ouarantme Service, Beijmg, 100029,Chma

Join the World Trade Organization (WTO). On thisbackground, the developmental tempo of advancedquarantine technology to approximate to internationalstandard has been quickened. A great deal of task forces hasbeen put mto enhancmg the quarantine standardization.Among the task forces, computer IS playing an Importantrole m the busmess of ports plant quarantine.Has been developed m the last two decades, the

technology of expert system (ES) IS givmg an ever-greatercontnbution to decision makmg in agnculture Thistechnology was apphed to plant protection field at the end of1970s, especially to resolve problems of pest diagnosis andidentifrcation. In the light of ES programmmg techniques,there are two methods that have been used m plantprotection. The first is to utilize an ES shell With mput ofrelated mformation to build ItS knowledge database. This IS afacile way to form an applicable ES, but It may probably belimited in flexibility. The second IS to develop an applicableES by programming WIth a popular language This way ISmuch time-consuming and skill-mtensrve , but It IS flexible.Now the multimedia technology has created an opportumtyIII the development of agncultural expert system WIth newstyle and new functions. Especially for msect identifrcation,the ES can transfer from rigid DOS environment to become aVIVIdWmdows system gathenng With Image, text, audio andVIdeo. Furthermore, VIsual multimedia programminglanguage, e. g. Visual BaSIC, has been Improved well foryears. Languages of this kmd make multimedia expertsystem to highlight the agncultural field of computerapplication.Obviously, the modernization and standardizanon of plant

quarantine WIll not be reahzed without progress of computertechnology. It IS necessary to develop an assistantidentification system applied m msect pest quarantmeAccordmg to actual needs, multimedia expert system forplant quarantme pest identifrcation (PQ-PIckBugs) has beendesigned and accomplished

Design and Developmentof PQ-PickBugs

Definition of PQ-PickBugs

Multimedia expert system for plant quarantme pestidentification provides three categones of service: msect

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Proceedinqe of the 7 th International Workitl{} Conference on Stored-product Protection - Volume 2

pest identification, pest mformation mquiry, and insectknowledge quiz. It has been commercialized for many portplant quarantme services m Chma, and can be used forteachers and students m agncultural universities or colleges.127 quarantme msect pests and their similar species aremcluded m PQ-PickBugs, belongmg to 8 orders. Informationof the pests assembled m this system mcludes taxonomicknowledge, hosts, geographical distribution, dissemmationapproach, capture records, reference papers, and so on.PQ-PickBugs supplies an effective support to quarantinestaffs m accurate and rapid identification of quarantme insectpests

Study procedure of PQ-PickBugs

Accordmg to the pnnciple of software engmeenng, thePQ-PickBugs system was developed through three penodspartitioning several steps (Fig. 1). The developing periodconsists of four steps, namely, system analysis and design,acquisition of knowledge and information, systemprogrammmg, and system testmg Three tiny steps, whichare user mterface making, realization of functional modules,and building of mtegrated system, are contamed m thewhole programmmg step. All periods, steps, or tmy stepsare lmked up closely and promote each other effectively.

system testingsystem programming

planningpenod ofPQ-PICKBUGS

PQ-PICKBUGSdevelopingpenod

entire system building

apphcationpenod ofPQ-PICKBUGS

Fig. 1. PQ-Ptckbugs study procesure

Supporting hardware and software

The mam hardware and software in our use for supportmgthe development of PQ-Pickbugs are as follows.· Supporting hardware: PC 486 or Pentium with the leastmultimedia equipment, A 6000C true color Scanner to scanmsect pictures, microphone to make audio files

· Programmmg language: Visual BaSiC 4.0 to develop thewhole system.

• Supportmg software: Adobe Photoshop 3.0 to form imagefiles, 3D Studio 4.0 to make animation files.

System structure of PQ-PickBugs

Accordmg to the system design, four function modules arebuilt in PQ-PickBugs, namely identification module,introduction module, quiz game module, and systemsafeguard module The first and biggest one, msectidentification module, consists of eight sub-modulesrespectively for Diptera , Coleoptera, Lepidoptera,Homoptera, Hemiptera, and other orders Also, there arefour sub-modules in the next three modules. All the sub-modules can be controlled directly by pushmg relatedfunction buttons on the mam menu of PQ-Picklsugs

Acquisition of knowledge and information

From the development of plant quarantme in near 50

years, a group of erudite experts has growed up midentification of plant quarantme pests in Chma. Theirexpenences are very valuable. However, there has been noappropenate way to disseminate the experiences to deal Withdifferent cases which used to occur in all 230 ports over thewhole country. PQ-PickBugs is Just designed and developedto solve this problem. The expert system has acquiredknowledge from the experts in identification of quarantinepests and their Similar species. Conversational methodologyfor knowledge acquisition was used m tlus R&D project.The followmg files are contamed m the PQ-PickBugs

system.· text file (. txt): 768 pieces of files to descnbe 127 specieswith 6 kmds of information, ego taxonomical information,mcluding scientific name, synonym, Enhsh name,Chinese.• name and morphological characters. image We (. bmp):375 pieces of files to show morphological characters ofmsects to be identified. These figures are very clear Withdefirute marks, because most msect specimens captured bythe Beijing Animal and Plant Quarantme Service wereutilized to drawing the figures.

· audio file ( mid or wav}: 10 pieces of files to lead theway of how to use this system• animation file (. flc) : 1 We to show the front cover ofPQ-Picklsugs.

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Proceedings of the 7 th lnternoiumol. Working Conference an Stored-product Protection. - Volume 2

Applications of PQ-PickBugsand Plant Quarantine of China (CAPQ) , the Center forAgricultural Technology Extension, and port quarantinestations in Beijing, Shenzhen, Dalian and Xian, The carefultests showed that PQ-PickBugs 1.0 version is a reliablesoftware sysem of high quality.

PQ-PickBugs had been tested during its developing processin several departments, such as Administration of Animal

Fig. 2. Insects assistant identification service.

Fig.3. Insects information inquiry service.

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Functions of the systemInquiry service of the insect information: All information

about 127 insect pests in taxonomy. host. geographicdistribution, dissemination approach. capture records, andreference papers, could be retrieved in PQ-PickBugs (Fig.3) .For users to deepen their acknowledge about quarantine

insect pests, images of the insects can be provided. To meettheir requirements. the images can be showed at differentspeeds by pushing the buttons ( acceleration. deceleration.pause and continuance (Fig. 4).

Assistant service for insects identification, PQ-PickBugscan provide assistance to users in the identification of pests.especially in port quarantine. This functional interface (Fig.2) includes mainly three windows for identificationquestions. related images, and user answers. The users arerequired to give answer of each question step by step,according to the insect specimens that should be identified.Conclusion from the identification will reach at the end ofthis service.

Fig. 4. Insects imagines showing service.

Fig.5. Insect species quiz service.

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QUIZservice of insect species: There IS a small game totest users for their level of knowledge on quarantine msectsEach turn of the game has several questions to be asked With5 to 10 insects about their Chinese scientific name. The usermay type m his or her answer, when seeing morphologicalfigure of the msect that appears m the image window (Fig.5). The name answered by the user can be compared WithIts exact name automatically, and then a score can be givenout and accumulated during the game.

Practical application of the system in quarantineports

Main purpose of the PQ- PickBugs project IS to providedecision supportmg in identification of quarantme insectpests from their similar species. PQ-PIckBugs was appraisedhighly at a meeting that was organized by CAPQ in March1998.The multimedia technology makes tlus system friendly to

all users. It is regarded as an advanced software product anda good assistant tool for quarantine staffs. In the presentmoment it has been apphed widespread in port plantquarantme.

References

Carrillo, T. , et al , 1995. Computer automation of insectclassification, identification and counting. Review ofAgricultural Entomology 84, 10, 11-12.Donald, H., 1996. Multimedia in the entomologyclassroom Amencan Entomologist, 42, 2, 92 - 98.LI, Z. H., 1997. An applicanon research of computerassistant decision technology in regional vegetableproduction and insect pests management. Ph D thesis ofthe China Agricultural University.McKmIon, J. M. and Lemmon H E. , 1985. Expert systemsfor agnculture. Computer and Electronics m Agriculture,4, 31-40.Mumford J. D , and Norton, G. A. , 1993. Expert system mDecision Tools for Pest Management (CAB International) ,167 -179.Shen, Z. R. 1992 The development and use of models andexpert systems to aid the control of crop pests in ChmaMathematics and Computers m Simulanon 33, 5 - 6, 403-414.

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