Vespula vidua
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Vespula vidua, known generally as the long yellowjacket or widow yellowjacket, is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Widow Yellowjacket sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 220th most-seen of the 723 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.
March–June and August–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Widow Yellowjacket in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and November–February, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Widow Yellowjacket sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Widow Yellowjacket sightings, Shenandoah National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Great Smoky Mountains National Park (United States, under 5%).
Same genus: Vespula
The closest relatives of the Widow Yellowjacket that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (genus Vespula, Ground Yellowjackets) are Eastern Yellowjacket (about 20%), Downy Yellowjacket (about 10%) and Southern Yellowjacket (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Widow Yellowjacket is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (17 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.
