Ammophila sabulosa
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Ammophila sabulosa, the red-banded sand wasp, is a species of the subfamily Ammophilinae of the solitary hunting wasp family Sphecidae, also called digger wasps. Found across Eurasia, the parasitoid wasp is notable for the mass provisioning behaviour of the females, hunting caterpillars mainly on sunny days, paralysing them with a sting, and burying them in a burrow with a single egg. The species is also remarkable for the extent to which females parasitise their own species, either stealing prey from nests of other females to provision their own nests, or in brood parasitism, removing the other female's egg and laying one of her own instead.
The species was first described by the Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus as Sphex sabulosa in 1758. The genus Ammophila was created by the English parson-naturalist William Kirby in 1798. It was formerly thought that the following were subspecies:
André, 1886 Ammophila sabulosa is widely distributed across Eurasia with records from the southern half of Britain, France, the Netherlands... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Red-Belted Sand Wasp sighting in Berlin on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 745th most-seen of the 1065 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.
August
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-Belted Sand Wasp in Berlin on a given day, against under 5% in September to July, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-Belted Sand 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.
Among the best
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Red-Belted Sand Wasp sightings, Berlin ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Warsaw (Poland, under 5%).
Same family: Sphecidae
The closest relatives of the Red-Belted Sand Wasp that you can see in Berlin (family Sphecidae, Thread-waisted Wasps) are Mexican Grass-Carrying Wasp (about 10%), Asian Mud-Dauber Wasp (about 10%) and Golden Digger Wasp (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-Belted Sand Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Berlin (8 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.
