Polistes apachus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Polistes apachus is a social wasp native to western North America. It is known in English by the common name Texas paper wasp, or southwestern Texas paper wasp. It has also been called the Apache wasp, perhaps first by Simmons et al. in California in 1948. Simmons et al. reported how in California P. apachus is often found in fig orchards where it is considered a pest species due to its aggressive attacks and painful stings on farm labourers during harvest time in September and October. It may sometimes also be found in other types of orchards or in vineyards, but in California it is also commonly found to establish nests in or on houses in urban areas in attics or under the eaves of buildings. It is a type of paper wasp, which is the common name for a type of wasp that uses a papery material to construct its nests.
Polistes apachus was originally named by Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure in 1857. A phylogenic study by Pickett et al. in 2006 was unable to resolve anything useful regarding the relationships of the different Polistes species amongst one another.
A 1981 study of two nests of P. apachus from a university campus in Texas found that although most specimens... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Apache Paper Wasp sighting in Austin on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 982nd most-seen of the 1624 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Apache Paper Wasp in Austin on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Apache Paper Wasp sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 6
Of the 6 cities where we can rate Apache Paper Wasp sightings, Austin ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Dallas (United States, about 10%), San Antonio (United States, under 5%) and Los Angeles (United States, under 5%).
Same genus: Polistes
The closest relatives of the Apache Paper Wasp that you can see in Austin (genus Polistes, Umbrella Paper Wasps) are Guinea Paper Wasp (about 20%), Fine-Backed Red 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 Apache Paper Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Austin (14 verified sightings), 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.
