Polistes flavus
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Polistes flavus, also known as the yellow paper wasp, is a species of paper wasp in the family Vespidae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow Paper Wasp sighting in Big Bend National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 96th most-seen of the 329 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.
March
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow Paper Wasp in Big Bend National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August and December–February, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow 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.
Among the best
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Yellow Paper Wasp sightings, Big Bend National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Saguaro National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Polistes
The closest relatives of the Yellow Paper Wasp that you can see in Big Bend National Park (genus Polistes, Umbrella Paper Wasps) are Comanche Paper Wasp (about 30%), Golden 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 Yellow Paper Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Big Bend National Park (17 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.
