Vespula maculifrons
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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 Toronto on a given day, based on 308 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 84th most-seen of the 1689 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Yellowjacket in Toronto on a given day, against under 5% in December to April, 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.
8th of 13
Of the 13 cities where we can rate Eastern Yellowjacket sightings, Toronto ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Boston (United States, about 20%), Washington (United States, about 20%) and Philadelphia (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Yellowjacket is recorded against all the insects logged in Toronto (308 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.
