Polistes comanchus
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
Polistes comanchus is a species of paper wasp from northwestern Mexico to the south central United States. It was described in 1857 by Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure using a collection from Nuevo México - this does not correspond to the modern state of New Mexico, but at the time was a formerly Mexican territory which had recently been conquered and annexed by the USA, and included everything in between modern Nevada to east Texas. He had travelled to this region in 1856.
In 1978 Owain Richards classified P. comanchus in a subgenus he named Aphanilopterus after an old synonym of P. lanio by Fernand Anatole Meunier, he further placed it in a "species group 1". Two subspecies are accepted: Polistes comanchus ssp. comanchus - Found in southwestern Texas, Coahuila, Durango, New Mexico?
Polistes comanchus ssp. navajoe (Cresson, 1868) - Found in Arizona, California, New Mexico, western Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa. This subspecies makes its nests in cavities reached via a very small opening.
The IUCN has not evaluated this species' conservation status. Media related to Polistes comanchus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Comanche Paper Wasp sighting in Big Bend National Park on a given day, based on 146 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 6th most-seen of the 329 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September to December
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Comanche Paper Wasp in Big Bend National Park on a given day, against about 20% in January–February and May, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Comanche Paper 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.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Comanche Paper Wasp sightings, Big Bend National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Saguaro National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Polistes
The closest relatives of the Comanche Paper Wasp that you can see in Big Bend National Park (genus Polistes, Umbrella Paper Wasps) are Golden Paper Wasp (about 10%), Yellow Paper Wasp (about 10%) and Hunter's Little Paper Wasp (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Comanche Paper Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Big Bend National Park (146 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.
