An annotated image dataset of urban insects for the development of computer vision and deep learning models with detection tasks

Abstract

A large image dataset with the aim of developing an insect recognition algorithm like YOLO. The dataset contains more than 25,000 annotations on the taxonomy of urban insects according to their order and the localization of the insect (as a bounding box) on a scanned image. This annotated image dataset of flying insects was collected using UV light traps placed in food warehouses, manufacturers and grocery stores in urban environments. The traps, equipped with UVA lamps (365 nm), captured a variety of insect species on sticky cards over 7–10 days. The sticky traps with all captured insects were used to create high-resolution scanned images (1200 dpi, 48-bit colour), with the resolution preserving fine morphological details of the insect, such as the antenna. To annotate the dataset for computer vision and deep learning models with detection tasks, annotation was performed using CVAT, with bounding boxes labelled by entomology experts at the order level. The dataset was intended to serve as a dataset for computer scientists or entomologists to compare the performance of deep learning models that can be used to build an automatic detection system for urban insect diversity or pest control studies.