<![CDATA[Fruit fly infestations pose a significant threat to agricultural productivity, especially in chili plantations, which can cause substantial yield losses. Accurate and rapid species classification is crucial for implementing targeted pest control strategies. This study developed a computationally efficient fruit fly species classification model using a deep learning approach that focused on improving accuracy with fine tuning and class balancing strategies. The dataset consists of 1049 images across 4 fruit fly species, captured in a natural plantation environment and available at www.inaturalist.org. The model evaluated several lightweight Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures, including MobileNetV3-Small, RegNetY-400MF, and SqueezeNet among others, with RegNetY-400MF emerging as the best performing model, achieving a validation accuracy of 96.10% and a macro F1 score of 95.70%. The models tested in this study included several lightweight Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures, including MobileNetV3-Small, RegNetY-400MF, and SqueezeNet, among others. RegNetY-400MF proved to be the best performing model, achieving a validation accuracy of 96.10% and a macro F1 score of 95.70%. Compared to other state-of-the-art models, RegNetY-400MF demonstrated higher accuracy while maintaining a lower number of parameters (8.3 million) and reduced computational complexity (0.41 GFLOPs). This makes the model highly suitable for real-time applications in resource-constrained agricultural environments. The model offers a practical solution for fruit fly species detection, enabling early and accurate identification of pest infestations in chili plantations, thereby reducing the risk of crop failure. By providing an efficient and scalable pest control tool, the model supports precision pest management, improves yield stability, and contributes to sustainable agriculture.]]>
