Hymenoptera

Overview

Hymenoptera groups 91 collection units from the Hymenoptera section within the LS Insects division (Life Sciences), covering an estimated 5,779,960 individual items held across 3,899,057 curatorial/storage units. Material is predominantly whole organisms (51 of 91 collection units), whole or partial organism (29 of 91 collection units), and nests (6 of 91 collection units). Preservation is mainly dry pinned, microscope slide, and alcohol. Named taxa represented in this product include Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Ichneumonoidea, Cynipoidea, and Ceraphronoidea, among others. Notably, 7 collection unit(s) in this product are designated type material — the reference specimens against which a species is scientifically defined.

Value

Curatorial assessment rates this product highly on Strategy/mission/research, Development potential, and Significance by comparison (avg. 4.2/5 across its top three scored dimensions), indicating it is well positioned for external licensing relative to other NHM holdings. The presence of type specimens gives this product irreplaceable scientific authority — it is the definitive reference material for the taxa concerned, which cannot be substituted by material from any other institution. At 91 collection units, it is one of the larger, more substantial products in the catalogue, supporting sustained or multi-phase licensing engagements rather than a one-off dataset.

Use Cases

1. training data for computer-vision species-identification and biodiversity-monitoring models
2. high-resolution specimen imagery for scientific illustration, publishing, and natural-history media
3. reference datasets for evolutionary biology, morphometrics, and comparative anatomy research
4. content for natural-history apps, citizen-science platforms, and museum digital exhibits
5. academic and institutional research licensing (biodiversity, systematics, and comparative studies)
6. new digital product development generally — this group scores well as a strong candidate for investment