Polistes major
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Polistes major is a Neotropical species of paper wasp found from South America north into the southern United States. This species is known as avispa de caballo (Spanish: "horse wasp") in the Dominican Republic. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Luis Potosí | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Horse Paper Wasp sighting in Everglades National Park on a given day, based on 96 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 38th most-seen of the 496 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Horse Paper Wasp in Everglades National Park on a given day, against about 10% in May, July–August and October–November, the lowest months. That is one of Everglades National Park's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain against 40 mm in March.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Horse Paper 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.
Yes
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Horse Paper Wasp sightings, Everglades National Park has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 10%) and Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Polistes
The closest relatives of the Horse Paper Wasp that you can see in Everglades National Park (genus Polistes, Umbrella Paper Wasps) are Metric Paper Wasp (about 10%), Hunter's Little Paper Wasp (about 10%) and Southern Paper Wasp (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Horse Paper Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Everglades National Park (96 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.
