Polybia occidentalis
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Polybia occidentalis, commonly known as camoati, is a swarm-founding advanced eusocial wasp. Swarm-founding means that a swarm of these wasps find a nesting site and build the nest together. This species can be found in Central and South America. P. occidentalis preys on nectar, insects, and carbohydrate sources, while birds and ants prey on and parasitize them. P. occidentalis workers bite each other to communicate the time to start working.
P. occidentalis belongs to the subfamily Polistinae. Polistines are one of six subfamilies of the Vespidae, and the subfamily contains four tribes, with Polybia belonging to the Epiponini. P. occidentalis is a black and yellow wasp - a black base with few yellow stripes on its abdomen. Its wings are thin and the thorax is attached to the abdomen by a long, thin petiole. Workers have a mean dry weight ranging from 3.80 to 6.71 mg. Its costal length ranges from 3.6 to 4.7 mm. Queen wasps are differentiated from workers because they have visibly larger ovaries, which are filled with eggs. Males are differentiated from workers and queens due to their visible testes. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Santa Rosa National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Las Baulas Marine National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 2 | São Luís | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Fortaleza | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Managua | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 5 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Tegucigalpa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 8 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp sighting in Panama City on a given day, based on 34 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 8th most-seen of the 131 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January to November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp in Panama City on a given day, against under 5% in December, the lowest month.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-Banded Polybia 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.
8th of 14
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp sightings, Panama City ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Valencia (Venezuela, about 40%), São Luís (Brazil, about 30%) and Fortaleza (Brazil, about 30%).
Same order: Hymenoptera
The closest relatives of the Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp that you can see in Panama City (order Hymenoptera, Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies) are Blue-Eyed Ensign Wasp (about 10%), Narrow Stingless Bee (about 10%) and Central American Paper Wasp (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Panama City (34 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.
