Vespula vidua
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Vespula vidua, known generally as the long yellowjacket or widow yellowjacket, is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Widow Yellowjacket sighting in Philadelphia on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 510th most-seen of the 632 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.
October
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Widow Yellowjacket in Philadelphia on a given day, against under 5% in November to September, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Widow 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 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Widow Yellowjacket sightings, Philadelphia 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 Widow Yellowjacket that you can see in Philadelphia (genus Vespula, Ground Yellowjackets) are Southern Yellowjacket (about 10%), Eastern 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 Widow Yellowjacket is recorded against all the insects logged in Philadelphia (6 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.
