Polistes annularis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Polistes annularis is a species of paper wasp found throughout the eastern half of the United States. This species of red paper wasp is known for its large size and its red-and-black coloration and is variably referred to as a ringed paper wasp or jack Spaniard wasp. It builds its nest under overhangs near bodies of water that minimize the amount of sunlight penetration. It clusters its nests together in large aggregations, and consumes nectar and other insects. Its principal predator is the ant, although birds are also known to prey on it. Unlike other wasps, P. annularis is relatively robust in winter conditions, and has also been observed to store honey in advance of hibernation. This species has also been used as a model species to demonstrate the ability to use microsatellite markers in maternity assignment of social insects.
The first description of P. annularis was published by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 Centuria Insectorum, where he named the species Vespa annularis. It was moved to the genus Polistes by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1804, two years after Pierre André Latreille had erected the new genus. Within the genus Polistes, P. annularis is placed... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Ringed Paper Wasp sighting in Congaree National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 117th most-seen of the 145 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Ringed Paper Wasp in Congaree National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–June and October–February, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ringed Paper Wasp sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Congaree National Park, in our data
Congaree National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Ringed Paper Wasp sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ringed Paper Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Congaree National Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
