Brachygastra lecheguana
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Brachygastra lecheguana (Latreille, 1824), formerly known as Nectarina lecheguana, is a species of dark paper wasp found across tropical to subtropical America. It nests in underbrush in grassland-type environments, and species of the genus Brachygastra store honey, a trait characteristic of the genus.
Common names include marimbondo-do-campo, marimbondo-do-pasto, marimbondo-exu, marimbondo-de-pote, marimbondo-de-purrão, and avispa-de-pote, among others depending on the location. It is called tu in the Kwaza language of Rondônia, Brazil.
B. lecheguana belongs to the Epiponini tribe of Polistinae wasps, sometimes referred to as Polybiinae wasps. It is a Neotropical social wasp species that falls under the genus Brachygastra. Brachygastra wasps are identified, as noted in Andena and Carpenter (2012), by an anatomical projection over their posterior. The scutellum, metanotum, and propodeum, three of the hymenopteran back structures, combined form a flat, vertical surface in the middle of the body (mesosoma).
B. lecheguana is very closely related to B. mellifica and B. borellii, and indeed some authors suggest that B. lecheguana and B. mellifica can only be differentiated... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Cordoba | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 5 | Fortaleza | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brachygastra lecheguana sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 117 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 83 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.
April and October–February
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Brachygastra lecheguana in Galápagos Islands on a given day, against about 10% in March and May–September, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brachygastra lecheguana sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Galápagos Islands, in our data
Galápagos Islands is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Brachygastra lecheguana sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Hymenoptera
The closest relatives of the Brachygastra lecheguana that you can see in Galápagos Islands (order Hymenoptera, Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies) are Galápagos Carpenter Bee (about 40%), Variegated Paper Wasp (about 30%) and Longhorn Crazy Ant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brachygastra lecheguana is recorded against all the insects logged in Galápagos Islands (117 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.
