Polybia occidentalis
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Polybia occidentalis, commonly known as camoati, is a swarm-founding advanced eusocial wasp. Swarm-founding means that a swarm of these wasps find a nesting site and build the nest together. This species can be found in Central and South America. P. occidentalis preys on nectar, insects, and carbohydrate sources, while birds and ants prey on and parasitize them. P. occidentalis workers bite each other to communicate the time to start working.
P. occidentalis belongs to the subfamily Polistinae. Polistines are one of six subfamilies of the Vespidae, and the subfamily contains four tribes, with Polybia belonging to the Epiponini. P. occidentalis is a black and yellow wasp - a black base with few yellow stripes on its abdomen. Its wings are thin and the thorax is attached to the abdomen by a long, thin petiole. Workers have a mean dry weight ranging from 3.80 to 6.71 mg. Its costal length ranges from 3.6 to 4.7 mm. Queen wasps are differentiated from workers because they have visibly larger ovaries, which are filled with eggs. Males are differentiated from workers and queens due to their visible testes. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Santa Rosa National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Las Baulas Marine National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 2 | São Luís | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Fortaleza | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Managua | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 5 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Tegucigalpa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 8 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp sighting in Soberanía National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 65th most-seen of the 253 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp in Soberanía National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June, September–October and December, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-Banded 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.
5th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp sightings, Soberanía National Park ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tayrona National Natural Park (Colombia, about 20%), Chagres National Park (Panama, about 20%) and Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%).
Same genus: Polybia
The closest relatives of the Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp that you can see in Soberanía National Park (genus Polybia, Long-waisted Honey Wasps) are Ferocious 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 Yellow-Banded Polybia Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Soberanía National Park (19 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.
