Polybia rejecta
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Polybia rejecta is a species of social wasp found in the Neotropics region of the world. It was first described by Fabricius in South America in the 1790s. The wasp is associated with many other organisms, particularly specific species of ants and birds such as the Azteca ants and the cacique birds. This association is most beneficial to the ants and birds because of the aggressive protective nature of the wasp. The wasps will protect their nest even if it means death against any predator that approaches it and therefore this means that the association also protects the ants and birds. Additionally, the wasp is known for eating the eggs of red-eyed tree frogs as a main way of subsistence. It also, like many other wasp species, has a caste system of queens and workers that is evident by difference in body size among the wasps; the biggest female becomes the queen.
Polybia rejecta is a social wasp in the genus Polybia, which is composed of eusocial wasps in South America, particularly Brazil and Argentina. The eusocial characteristics seen in this wasp species are the presence of cooperative brood care, division of labor between non-reproductive and reproductive... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Ferocious Polybia Wasp sighting in Soberanía National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 129th most-seen of the 253 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–February and April–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Ferocious Polybia Wasp in Soberanía National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March and October–December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ferocious Polybia 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.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Ferocious Polybia Wasp sightings, Soberanía National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Serra dos Órgãos National Park (Brazil, about 20%), Tijuca National Park (Brazil, about 10%) and Manu National Park (Peru, about 10%).
Same genus: Polybia
The closest relatives of the Ferocious Polybia Wasp that you can see in Soberanía National Park (genus Polybia, Long-waisted Honey Wasps) are Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp (about 10%) and Polybia emaciata (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ferocious Polybia Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Soberanía National Park (9 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.
