Polybia occidentalis
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
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 |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp sighting in São Luís on a given day, based on 28 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 10th most-seen of the 93 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October to December
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp in São Luís on a given day, against under 5% in January and July, the lowest months. Those are among São Luís's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 360 mm in April.
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.
2nd of 14
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp sightings, São Luís ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Valencia (Venezuela, about 40%).
Same genus: Polybia
The closest relatives of the Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp that you can see in São Luís (genus Polybia, Long-waisted Honey Wasps) are Polybia sericea (about 40%) and Polybia punctata (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 São Luís (28 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.
