Vespula germanica
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Vespula germanica, known colloquially as the European wasp, German wasp, or German yellowjacket, is a species of wasp found in much of the Northern Hemisphere, native to Europe, Northern Africa, and temperate Asia. It has spread and become well-established in many other places, including North America, South America (Argentina and Chile), Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. German wasps are part of the family Vespidae and are sometimes mistakenly referred to as paper wasps because they build grey paper nests, although strictly speaking, paper wasps are part of the subfamily Polistinae. In North America, they are also known as yellowjackets.
Vespula germanica belongs to the genus Vespula, which includes various species of social wasps that are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In North America, these wasps are most commonly known as yellowjackets, but this name also applies to species within the sister genus Dolichovespula. Members of Vespula are often confused with other genera, especially the paper wasp Polistes dominula. Colonies of V. germanica share many characteristics with those of V. vulgaris (common wasp) and V. pensylvanica (western... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 10 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 11 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 12 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 13 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 14 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 15 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a German Yellowjacket sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 50 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 82nd most-seen of the 311 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.
February–May, July and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a German Yellowjacket in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in January, June and August–November, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most German Yellowjacket sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
53rd of 73
Of the 73 cities where we can rate German Yellowjacket sightings, Cape Town ranks 53rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Ankara (Turkey, about 20%), Yerevan (Armenia, about 20%) and Berlin (Germany, about 20%).
Same order: Hymenoptera
The closest relatives of the German Yellowjacket that you can see in Cape Town (order Hymenoptera, Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies) are European Paper Wasp (about 20%), Double-Banded Carpenter Bee (about 10%) and Black Cocktail Ant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the German Yellowjacket is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (50 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.
