Vespula maculifrons
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The eastern yellowjacket (eastern yellow jacket; Vespula maculifrons) is a wasp found in eastern North America. Although most of their nests are subterranean, they are often considered a pest due to their nesting in recreational areas and buildings. This yellow jacket is a social insect, living in colonies of hundreds to thousands of individuals. Along with their subfamily, Vespinae, this species demonstrates supportive parental care for offspring, separation of reproductive and sterile castes, and overlapping generations. They aggressively defend their nests from threats and are known to inflict painful stings.
V. maculifrons, in the family Vespidae and the subfamily Vespinae, is commonly found throughout the Northern Hemisphere as part of the yellowjackets. For example, V. maculifrons is commonly called the eastern yellowjacket and has the black and yellow color that distinguishes the yellowjackets. The specific name maculifrons is derived from the Latin word macula, which means spot, and frons, which means forehead. This refers to the spots on the head of species, which are another distinguishing characteristic. Like other Vespula species, V. maculifrons... 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 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Yellowjacket sighting in Philadelphia on a given day, based on 138 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 37th most-seen of the 632 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.
April and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Yellowjacket in Philadelphia on a given day, against under 5% in June and December–January, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Yellowjacket sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 13
Of the 13 cities where we can rate Eastern Yellowjacket sightings, Philadelphia ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Boston (United States, about 20%) and Washington (United States, about 20%).
Same genus: Vespula
The closest relatives of the Eastern Yellowjacket that you can see in Philadelphia (genus Vespula, Ground Yellowjackets) are Southern Yellowjacket (about 10%) and German Yellowjacket (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Yellowjacket is recorded against all the insects logged in Philadelphia (138 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.
