Cerceris rybyensis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Cerceris rybyensis, the ornate tailed digger wasp, is a Palearctic species of solitary wasp from the family Philanthidae which specialised in hunting small to medium-sized mining bees. It is the type species of the genus Cerceris and was named as Sphex rybyensis by Carl Linnaeus in 1771.
Cerceris rybyensis females measure 8-12mm in length, males measure 6-10mm. It has distinctive yellow and black bands on its abdomen, including a segment wide yellow band in the middle, and yellow tibia on the rear legs. Cerceris rybyensis is a Palearctic species which is found from southern England and the Iberian Peninsula in the west through most of Europe, including Scandinavia east to Japan.
Cerceris rybyensis occurs in areas of sandy soils, both coastal and inland, but it can also be found in areas with heavier soils and in chalk grassland. It has even been recorded from a suburban garden in London. It often nests in association with other burrowing wasps and bees including the sand tailed digger wasp (Cerceris arenaria).
Cerceris rybyensis is univoltine (one brood per year) and the adults have a flight period of June to September... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warsaw | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Hamburg | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Munich | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Brussels | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 7 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 9 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 10 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ornate-Tailed Digger Wasp sighting in Brussels on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 154th most-seen of the 337 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.
May to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ornate-Tailed Digger Wasp in Brussels on a given day, against under 5% in September to April, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ornate-Tailed Digger 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 10 cities where we can rate Ornate-Tailed Digger Wasp sightings, Brussels ranks 6th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Warsaw (Poland, about 10%), Berlin (Germany, about 10%) and Hamburg (Germany, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ornate-Tailed Digger Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Brussels (12 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.
