Vespula vidua
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Vespula vidua, known generally as the long yellowjacket or widow yellowjacket, is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Widow Yellowjacket sighting in Boston on a given day, based on 100 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 159th most-seen of the 1200 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Widow Yellowjacket in Boston on a given day, against under 5% in June and October–April, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Widow Yellowjacket sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Widow Yellowjacket sightings, Boston has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Baltimore (United States, under 5%) and Philadelphia (United States, under 5%).
Same genus: Vespula
The closest relatives of the Widow Yellowjacket that you can see in Boston (genus Vespula, Ground Yellowjackets) are Eastern Yellowjacket (about 20%), German Yellowjacket (about 10%) and Downy Yellowjacket (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Widow Yellowjacket is recorded against all the insects logged in Boston (100 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.
