Vespula flavopilosa
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Vespula flavopilosa, also known as the downy yellowjacket, is a species of yellowjacket found in North America. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Downy Yellowjacket sighting in Chicago on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 486th most-seen of the 978 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 a Downy Yellowjacket in Chicago on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Downy Yellowjacket sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Downy Yellowjacket sightings, Chicago ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Boston (United States, about 10%), Baltimore (United States, under 5%) and New York City (United States, under 5%).
Same genus: Vespula
The closest relatives of the Downy Yellowjacket that you can see in Chicago (genus Vespula, Ground Yellowjackets) are German Yellowjacket (about 10%) and Eastern Yellowjacket (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Downy Yellowjacket is recorded against all the insects logged in Chicago (17 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.
