Polistes metricus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Polistes metricus (metric paper wasp or metricus paper wasp) is a wasp native to North America. In the United States, it ranges throughout the southern Midwest, the South, and as far northeast as New York, but has recently been spotted in southwest Ontario. A single female specimen has also been reported from Dryden, Maine. P. metricus is dark colored, with yellow tarsi and black tibia. Nests of P. metricus can be found attached to the sides of buildings, trees, and shrubbery.
Like other Polistes species, P. metricus has evolved eusociality and demonstrates behaviors including nestmate discrimination and local mate competition. Like other hymenopterans, P. metricus has a haplodiploid genetic system. Nests of P. metricus have distinct characteristics like the ability to share nests with other Polistes species and reuse nests for multiple seasons. Another distinction is that P. metricus foragers take off from their nests in different directions depending on how long their trip will be. For short flights, they exit the nest flying horizontally, while for long flights, they exit the nest flying straight up to a high altitude before pursuing their direction.
P. metricus prefers to use soft-bodied prey, especially caterpillars, to feed its larvae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Metric Paper Wasp sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 104th most-seen of the 189 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.
January–March, May, August–September and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Metric Paper Wasp in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in April, June–July, October and December, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Metric 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.
Among the best
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Metric Paper Wasp sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 6th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Everglades National Park (United States, about 10%), Congaree National Park (United States, about 10%) and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Polistes
The closest relatives of the Metric Paper Wasp that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (genus Polistes, Umbrella Paper Wasps) are Horse 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 Metric Paper Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (10 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.
