Terahertz Surveillance of Insects and Parasites: A Digital Twin Approach

Monitoring and farm surveillance, as part of biosecurity measures, involves observing the presence, absence, and population densities of both pollinators and pests. When considering future miniaturized mobile terahertz (THz) environmental monitoring systems for tracking minuscule radar targets such as aerial insects (e.g., honey bees), a key challenge lies in their reduced radar cross section (RCS). This results in lower backscattered power, thereby limiting the maximum detection range and reducing applicability across various scenarios. In this paper, a realistic 3D model of a Western honey bee and a Varroa mite is introduced. While the complex permittivity of the honey bee was measured experimentally in our previous work, the Varroa mite was modeled using estimated homogeneous dielectric parameters. Using a monostatic radar configuration, RCS analysis is performed at a carrier frequency of 300 GHz to identify the presence of a mite on a honey bee and confirm its precise location.