This disclosure relates to systems and methods for sensing insect sex or species. One example sensing system includes a light transmitter having a light emitter, and a light collimator positioned to receive light emitted by the light emitter, and collimate the received light； a light receiver positioned and oriented to receive the collimated light, the light receiver including a light detector, and a light decollimator positioned to receive collimated light from the light transmitter, and focus the received light onto the light detector； a non-transitory computer-readable medium； and a processor in communication with the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the processor configured to execute processor-executable instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium to: receive one or more signals from the light detector； and determine a wingbeat frequency of an insect traversing the collimated light based on the one or more signals.
