Polistes japonicus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Polistes japonicus is a eusocial paper wasp found in Japan. It was first described by Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure in 1858. It is closely related to Polistes formosanus. This species lives in small colonies with few workers and a foundress queen. Nests of these wasps are sometimes used as a traditional medicine in Korea, China, and Japan.
Polistes japonicus is a member of the tribe Polistini within the paper wasp subfamily, Polistinae. They are in the subgenus Polistella within Polistes. A close relative within this subgenus is P. snelleni. They are primitively eusocial wasps.
P. japonicus has a pronotum with sparse, minor punctures. In males, the anterior margin of the clypeus is rounded. The scutellum disc is slightly convex. The abdomen is yellow with brown and/or black bands. The wings are darkened with a brownish tint. There are no morphological differences between workers and new reproductive females in this species. There is a sexual dimorphism in P. japonicus, with males being larger than females. This is suggested to be a result of local mate competition between the males.
The nests are paper... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Polistes japonicus sighting in Tokyo on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 817th most-seen of the 1013 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 Polistes japonicus in Tokyo on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
5th of 5
Of the 5 cities where we can rate Polistes japonicus sightings, Tokyo ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Hong Kong (China, about 10%), Tuen Mun (China, about 10%) and Taipei (Taiwan, about 10%).
Same genus: Polistes
The closest relatives of the Polistes japonicus that you can see in Tokyo (genus Polistes, Umbrella Paper Wasps) are Dark-Waisted Paper Wasp (about 10%) and Rothney's Paper Wasp (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Polistes japonicus is recorded against all the insects logged in Tokyo (8 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.
