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 New York City on a given day, based on 88 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 261st most-seen of the 1623 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.
August and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Downy Yellowjacket in New York City on a given day, against under 5% in October to July, the lowest months.
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.
3rd of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Downy Yellowjacket sightings, New York City ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Boston (United States, about 10%) and Baltimore (United States, under 5%).
Same genus: Vespula
The closest relatives of the Downy Yellowjacket that you can see in New York City (genus Vespula, Ground Yellowjackets) are German Yellowjacket (about 10%), Eastern Yellowjacket (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 Downy Yellowjacket is recorded against all the insects logged in New York City (88 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.
