Vespa velutina
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina), also known as the yellow-legged hornet or Asian predatory wasp, is a species of hornet indigenous to Southeast Asia. It is of concern as an invasive species in some other countries, including most of Europe.
Vespa velutina is significantly smaller than the European hornet. Typically, queens are 30 mm (1.2 in) long, and males about 24 mm (0.94 in). Workers are about 20 mm (0.79 in) long. The species has distinctive yellow tarsi (legs). The thorax is a velvety brown or black with a brown abdomen. Each abdominal segment has a narrow posterior yellow border, except for the fourth segment, which is orange. The head is black and the face yellow. Regional forms vary sufficiently in colour to cause difficulties in classification, and several subspecies have been variously identified and ultimately rejected; while there is a history of recognising subspecies within many of the Vespa species, including V. velutina, the most recent taxonomic revision of the genus treats all subspecific names in the genus Vespa as synonyms, effectively relegating them to no more than informal names for regional colour forms. The colour form causing concern about... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Picos de Europa National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Legged Hornet sighting in Kunming on a given day, based on 42 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the most-seen of the 36 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Legged Hornet in Kunming on a given day, against under 5% in January and May, the lowest months. That is one of Kunming's wettest months, with about 160 mm of rain against 10 mm in February.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-Legged Hornet 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 41 cities where we can rate Yellow-Legged Hornet sightings, Kunming ranks 2nd at about 40%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Brussels (Belgium, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-Legged Hornet is recorded against all the insects logged in Kunming (42 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.
