Aotearoa Species Classifier

This app applies a neural network model to identify species present in photos. The neural network has been trained on images collected in New Zealand via iNaturalist. Classification of species is performed on-device. IMPORTANT NOTE: This app cannot reliably identify invasive species that were not included in its training data — for example, the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina). If such a species is submitted, the app may either: Refuse classification with a message like “Confidence too low” Misclassify the specimen as a similar-looking species with low or moderate confidence For instance, an Asian hornet may be incorrectly identified as a Common European Yellowjacket (Vespula vulgaris), German Yellowjacket (Vespula germanica), or Australian Paper Wasp (Polistes humilis), with a confidence score between 40% and 80%. Training Data Cutoff: No observations uploaded to iNaturalist after 30 August 2023 were used to train the model.