Near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for taxonomic entomology: A brief review

For over two decades, near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been applied to a wide spectrum of problems in the field of insect taxonomy. It provides a rapid, non‐destructive and relatively cheap method of metabolomic profiling, which can often be used to discriminate closely related species in the same genus. Furthermore, very little training or entomological knowledge is required to operate the instrument. However, a taxonomist is still required to ensure accurate identification of samples used for NIRS model creation and validation. To date, most research has focused on species of economic or epidemiological importance, such as mosquitoes, flies or stored product pests. However, an increasing number of studies are applying NIRS for entomological research with a purely “academic” purpose. As research continues in this field, NIRS has the potential to become more widely accepted in entomology, allowing for the rapid metabolomic profiling of thousands of species.