Mischocyttarus mexicanus
In 3 days ~10%
Mischocyttarus mexicanus is a New World species of paper wasp that exhibits facultative eusocial behavior and includes at least two subspecies living in the southern United States and Central America. This social wasp species is a good model for studying the selective advantage of different nesting tactics within a single species. M. mexicanus females can form nests both as individuals and as members of a colony, and are even known to switch between these two nesting strategies throughout their life, which is an unusual phenomenon in the field of social biology. Individuals in a colony have particular social roles that are plastic, as opposed to rigid castes, and brood parasitism and usurpation have been observed between unrelated conspecifics. They nest in a variety of types of plants and human constructions, although they have most frequently been observed in palm trees, and they are known to interact with a number of other species as prey, competitors over resources, or foragers.
M. mexicanus was described by Henri de Saussure in 1854, and it is a member of the social polistine wasp genus Mischocyttarus. Mischocyttarus is actually cited as the largest... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Paper Wasp sighting in Houston on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 978th most-seen of the 1057 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Paper Wasp in Houston on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mexican 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.
5th of 5
Of the 5 cities where we can rate Mexican Paper Wasp sightings, Houston ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Orlando (United States, about 10%), Miami (United States, about 10%) and Monterrey (México, under 5%).
Same family: Vespidae
The closest relatives of the Mexican Paper Wasp that you can see in Houston (family Vespidae, Hornets, Paper Wasps, Potter Wasps, and Allies) are Fraternal Potter Wasp (about 10%) and Southern Yellowjacket (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mexican Paper Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Houston (5 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.
