Polistes carnifex
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Polistes carnifex, commonly known as the executioner wasp or executioner paper wasp, is a neotropical vespid wasp in the cosmopolitan genus Polistes. It is a large yellow and brown paper wasp with a mandible that contains teeth. It establishes small colonies, founded by solitary queens, which build nests under the eaves of buildings or suspended from branches. Foraging adults bring nectar and macerated prey back to the nest to feed to the developing larvae which are individually housed in separate cells in the nest.
As its range includes only small portions of the English-speaking Americas, P. carnifex has only recently taken on an English vernacular name, but in the mid-2010s the name executioner wasp was proposed, a calque upon the Latin specific name carnifex "executioner, hangman".
In Paraguay, it is usually known in Guaraní as kava mainomby "hummingbird wasp", in reference to its great size; less commonly, it is called kava alazán "brown wasp" (more usually used for P. cavapyta), or kava sa'yju "yellow wasp" (more usually used for Agelaia multipicta or A. pallipes). In the Mexican state of Guerrero, speakers of Malinaltepec refer to the executioner wasp and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palo Verde National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 5 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Executioner Paper Wasp sighting in Guatemala City on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 41st most-seen of the 87 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, July and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Executioner Paper Wasp in Guatemala City on a given day, against under 5% in April, June and October–February, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Executioner Paper 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.
4th of 6
Of the 6 cities where we can rate Executioner Paper Wasp sightings, Guatemala City ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cali (Colombia, about 30%), João Pessoa (Brazil, about 20%) and Medellín (Colombia, about 20%).
Same genus: Polistes
The closest relatives of the Executioner Paper Wasp that you can see in Guatemala City (genus Polistes, Umbrella Paper Wasps) are Unstable Paper Wasp (about 20%) and Hunter's Little Paper Wasp (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Executioner Paper Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Guatemala City (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.
