Protopolybia exigua
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Protopolybia exigua is a species of vespid wasp found in South America and Southern Brazil. These neotropical wasps, of the tribe Epiponini, form large colonies with multiple queens per colony. P. exigua are small wasps that find nourishment from nectar and prey on arthropods. Their nests are disc-shaped and hang from the undersides of leaves and tree branches. This particular species of wasp can be hard to study because they frequently abandon their nests. P. exigua continuously seek refuge from phorid fly attacks and thus often flee infested nests to build new ones. The wasps' most common predators are ants and the parasitoid phorid flies from the Phoridae family.
The Epiponini belong to the swarm-founding wasp subfamily Polistinae. Epiponini are neotropical swarm-founding wasps characterized by large, multiple-queen colonies. The Protopolybia genus consists of small paper wasps. Ducke (1905) morphologically separated Protopolybia from Pseudochartergus and established their close relation due to physical similarity of a medial posterior process on the metanotum.
Protopolybia exigua are small, swarm founding wasps. One... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Protopolybia exigua sighting in São Paulo on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 672nd most-seen of the 832 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.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Protopolybia exigua in São Paulo on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Only São Paulo, in our data
São Paulo is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Protopolybia exigua sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Vespidae
The closest relatives of the Protopolybia exigua that you can see in São Paulo (family Vespidae, Hornets, Paper Wasps, Potter Wasps, and Allies) are Protonectarina sylveirae (about 10%) and Agelaia multipicta (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Protopolybia exigua is recorded against all the insects logged in São Paulo (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.
