Descriptor: Parasitoid Wasps and Associated Hymenoptera Dataset (DAPWH)

TL;DR

This paper introduces a curated, annotated image dataset of parasitoid wasps and related Hymenoptera to facilitate the development of automated identification systems for these ecologically significant but taxonomically challenging insects.

Contribution

The creation of a high-resolution, annotated image dataset focusing on Neotropical Ichneumonidae and Braconidae, supporting advances in computer vision-based taxonomy.

Findings

Dataset contains 3,556 images with 1,739 annotated in COCO format.

Includes images of multiple Hymenoptera families to enhance model robustness.

Provides a foundation for automated identification of parasitoid wasps.

Abstract

Accurate taxonomic identification is the cornerstone of biodiversity monitoring and agricultural management, particularly for the hyper-diverse superfamily Ichneumonoidea. Comprising the families Ichneumonidae and Braconidae, these parasitoid wasps are ecologically critical for regulating insect populations, yet they remain one of the most taxonomically challenging groups due to their cryptic morphology and vast number of undescribed species. To address the scarcity of robust digital resources for these key groups, we present a curated image dataset designed to advance automated identification systems. The dataset contains 3,556 high-resolution images, primarily focused on Neotropical Ichneumonidae and Braconidae, while also including supplementary families such as Andrenidae, Apidae, Bethylidae, Chrysididae, Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, Pompilidae, and Vespidae to improve model robustness. Crucially, a subset of 1,739 images is annotated in COCO format, featuring multi-class bounding boxes for the full insect body, wing venation, and scale bars. This resource provides a foundation for developing computer vision models capable of identifying these families.