Sphictostethus nitidus
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Sphictostethus nitidus, the golden hunter wasp or red spider wasp, is a species of pepsid spider wasp endemic to New Zealand. Females are reddish brown with yellow tints and with sooty spots; the males are also reddish brown with yellow-tinted wings, but these are never spotted. Females are 8.5-22.0 mm in length, and males 7.5-15.0 mm. They have a bold, jerky gait, and their vivid colour is aposematic to warn off visual predators such as birds and lizards. It is the only New Zealand Sphictostethus species that does not change from red to black when altitude or latitude increases. Its body stays red even at the most southern latitudes of its range.
S. nitidus hunts terrestrially in a variety of situations such as underneath and within logs, debris, and rotting wood, arboreally in shrubs and bushes, and on shingles and under boulders. The prey is usually detected by sight and pursued into the open. S. nitidus varies the attack depending on the species and size of spider. When Uliodon frenatus of any size is the prey, the wasp springs on to the back of the spider and stings the abdomen first before curving its abdomen and stinging the midventral region... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur's Pass National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Abel Tasman National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Golden Hunting Wasp sighting in Abel Tasman National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 44th most-seen of the 64 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Golden Hunting Wasp in Abel Tasman National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to December, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Golden Hunting Wasp sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Golden Hunting Wasp sightings, Abel Tasman National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Arthur's Pass National Park (New Zealand, about 10%).
Same order: Hymenoptera
The closest relatives of the Golden Hunting Wasp that you can see in Abel Tasman National Park (order Hymenoptera, Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies) are Buff-Tailed Bumble Bee (about 30%), Common European Yellowjacket (about 20%) and European Paper Wasp (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Golden Hunting Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Abel Tasman National Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
