Pelecinus polyturator
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Pelecinus polyturator is a species of wasp in the family Pelecinidae. The large (up to 7 cm) glossy black insects are the most common and well-known members of the family. The adults drink nectar, and they live in crop fields, woods, and suburban gardens throughout North, Central, and South America. Their antennae are long and the females have an elongated, cylindrical, articulated metasoma. They are parasitoids that lay their eggs directly into grubs of the June beetle (genus Phyllophaga) buried in the soil. The adults can be found in the late summer.
Some populations of Pelecinus polyturator are parthenogenic; females do not require fertilization by males to reproduce. Females are common throughout its range, but males are rare in the United States and Canada specially in some populations, and more prevalent further south. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Cape Breton Highlands National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an American Pelecinid Wasp sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 168th most-seen of the 822 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.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an American Pelecinid Wasp in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to May, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most American Pelecinid 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.
8th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate American Pelecinid Wasp sightings, Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Chirripó National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%), Itatiaia National Park (Brazil, about 10%) and Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Costa Rica, about 10%).
Same order: Hymenoptera
The closest relatives of the American Pelecinid Wasp that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (order Hymenoptera, Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies) are Common Eastern Bumble Bee (about 40%), Eastern Carpenter Bee (about 30%) and European Hornet (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Pelecinid Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (29 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.
