Are you tired of seeing wasps buzzing around your backyard in Arkansas and not knowing what kind they are? You’re not alone. Arkansas has a long, warm wasp season, plenty of covered porches and outbuildings for nests, and a mix of Southern and Midwestern species. That means the “wasp” under your eave in Little Rock, the one coming out of the lawn in Fayetteville, and the giant one hovering over a sandy spot in Pine Bluff are probably three very different insects.
For non-aggressive wasps I've had great luck spraying nests with this Spectracide wasp remover in the evening. For a nest up high in an eave, soffit, or tree, this Gotcha pole adapter clamps onto the can so you can spray from the end of an extension pole and treat the nest from 10+ feet away instead of standing right under it. And for anything aggressive I wear this ridiculous-looking upper torso beekeeping suit and keep my distance. It seems silly, but trust me, I learned the hard way.
Most of the stinging trouble in Arkansas comes from just a few social wasps: red wasps and other paper wasps, yellowjackets, and bald-faced hornets. Many of the other wasps you’ll see are solitary, rarely sting, and eat pests. This guide covers the species Arkansas homeowners run into most, how to tell them apart, when each is active, and how to deal with a nest safely.
For a nationwide overview, see our wasps by state regional guide. For identification features that apply to any species, see the complete wasp identification guide.
| Wasp | What it looks like | Where it nests | Sting risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red wasp | Slender, reddish-brown, dark wings, ~1 in long | Open paper comb under eaves, porch ceilings, sheds, barns | Moderate to high near the nest |
| Guinea paper wasp | Slender, brown with yellow and reddish bands | Open comb under eaves, in shrubs, on fences | Moderate near the nest |
| Northern paper wasp | Slender, dark brown to reddish, few markings | Open comb under eaves, decks, railings | Low to moderate |
| Eastern yellowjacket | Small (½ in), bright yellow and black, fast, stocky | Underground, often in old rodent burrows | High: defends nest in numbers |
| Southern yellowjacket | Like the eastern, with distinctive yellow stripes on the thorax | Underground, sometimes in wall voids | High |
| Bald-faced hornet | Black with white face and markings, ¾ in | Large gray paper nest in trees, shrubs, eaves | High near the nest |
| Mud daubers | Long thin “waist,” black-and-yellow or metallic blue | Mud tubes and cells on walls, ceilings, sheds | Very low |
| Eastern cicada killer | Huge (1.5 in+), black/rust with yellow bands | Burrows in sandy or bare soil | Very low |
| Velvet ant (“cow killer”) | Fuzzy, red and black, ant-shaped, walks on the ground | Parasite in ground-nesting bee and wasp nests | Low, but very painful if handled |
The top six rows cause nearly all wasp stings in Arkansas. The bottom three almost never sting unless picked up or stepped on barefoot.
Arkansas’s climate is humid and subtropical, with long hot summers and short, fairly mild winters. South Arkansas warms up a couple of weeks before the Ozarks and stays warm longer in the fall, so treat the timing below as a general pattern rather than exact dates.
If someone in Arkansas says “red wasp,” they usually mean a large reddish-brown paper wasp in the genus Polistes. Two species fit that description here: Polistes carolina and Polistes rubiginosus. They look so similar that most people (and many pest professionals) simply call both “red wasps.”
How to identify them: Red wasps are about an inch long, slender, with a narrow waist, long legs that dangle in flight, and smoky dark wings. The body is mostly rusty red to reddish-brown with little or no yellow.
Where they nest: Red wasps build open, umbrella-shaped paper combs with exposed cells facing down. In Arkansas you’ll find them under porch ceilings, eaves, carports, deck railings, barn rafters, playground equipment, and inside sheds and unused grills. They also hide nests in protected spots like hollow fence posts and bird boxes.
Sting risk: Red wasps are not usually aggressive away from the nest, but they defend it readily. Brushing against a hidden nest while trimming shrubs or opening a shed door is the classic way Arkansans get stung. The sting is painful, among the more painful of the common paper wasps.
For more detail, see our complete red wasp guide, why red wasps become aggressive, and how to handle a red wasp sting.
Arkansas sits where Southern and northern paper wasps overlap, so you’ll see several species besides red wasps:
All paper wasps build the same style of open comb without a paper outer covering. They eat caterpillars and other garden pests, so a small nest in an out-of-the-way spot can be left alone. Nests near doors, walkways, or play areas are another story. Our paper wasps complete guide and how to get rid of paper wasps cover identification and removal in depth.
Yellowjackets are smaller than paper wasps (about half an inch), stocky, and boldly striped in bright yellow and black. They fly fast and in straight lines, and their legs tuck up against the body in flight rather than dangling.
Arkansas has several species. The two you’re most likely to meet are:
Why they’re the main stinging problem: A mature yellowjacket colony in late summer can hold thousands of workers, and they defend the nest as a group. Mowing, weed-eating, or stepping near the entrance can trigger many stings at once. Unlike honey bees, yellowjackets can sting more than once.
What not to do: Never pour gasoline or other fuels into a ground nest, and don’t simply plug the hole. A blocked colony may dig out in a new direction, and if the nest is near a foundation, it can chew into the house.
Learn more in our yellow jackets complete guide, our guide to ground wasps, and how to identify a yellow jacket nest.
The bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) isn’t a true hornet. It’s a large aerial yellowjacket, black with ivory-white markings on the face and tail end. It builds the familiar gray, football-shaped paper nest hanging from tree branches, shrubs, or under eaves, sometimes high in trees where it goes unnoticed until the leaves drop in fall.
Bald-faced hornets are very defensive near the nest and will chase intruders. Don’t throw rocks at a hanging nest or try to knock it down. A nest high in a tree that isn’t near where people walk can usually be left alone. The colony will die off with the hard freezes, and the empty nest won’t be reused. See the bald-faced hornet guide for identification and safety.
No. The northern giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia, often called the “murder hornet” or Asian giant hornet) was only ever confirmed in the Pacific Northwest, and Washington State declared it eradicated in late 2024. The large wasps Arkansans mistake for murder hornets are almost always eastern cicada killers or, in some parts of the state, European hornets. See our murder hornet guide for how to tell them apart.
Mud daubers are solitary wasps with a very long, thin waist. They don’t have a colony to defend and very rarely sting people. Arkansas has three common types:
Mud daubers hunt spiders, including black widows, which are common in Arkansas sheds, woodpiles, and crawl spaces. If a mud nest is somewhere you don’t want it, you can scrape it off with a putty knife. No spray is needed. See our mud daubers complete guide and mud wasp nest guide.
Arkansas’s biggest wasps tend to be its least dangerous.
The eastern cicada killer (Sphecius speciosus) is up to 1.5–2 inches long, black to rusty with pale yellow bands on the abdomen, and amber wings. Each summer, usually July through August, females dig burrows in sandy or bare soil, sunny lawn edges, flower beds, and along sidewalks, and stock them with paralyzed cicadas. Arkansas has plenty of annual “dog-day” cicadas, which are their main prey.
Males patrol the nesting area and buzz people aggressively, but males cannot sting. Females can sting but almost never do unless handled. See the cicada killer guide and how to identify cicada killer holes in your lawn.
Two other large solitary wasps are common on Arkansas flowers in mid to late summer, especially on mountain mint, milkweed, and goldenrod:
Both are docile pollinators that rarely sting.
Arkansas has many spider wasps: fast, dark, often metallic blue-black or orange-and-black wasps that run across the ground flicking their wings while hunting spiders. Western Arkansas, especially the Ouachitas and the Arkansas River Valley, is home to the Texas brown tarantula, and large spider wasps hunt tarantulas there. These wasps have a very painful sting if handled but aren’t aggressive. See our spider wasp guide.
If you see dark wasps with dark bluish wings and a yellow-spotted, red-orange abdomen skimming low over your lawn in late summer, they’re probably blue-winged scoliid wasps hunting grubs. They’re harmless and actually help control June beetle and Japanese beetle larvae. See the scoliid wasp guide and why wasps hover over grass.
The red-and-black fuzzy “ant” you see running across bare dirt or a sidewalk in Arkansas in summer is actually a wingless female wasp, the eastern velvet ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis). Its nickname “cow killer” exaggerates things, but its sting is famously painful. Velvet ants don’t defend a nest and only sting when handled or stepped on, so wear shoes in sandy areas and teach kids not to pick them up. See our velvet ant guide.
Before you spray anything, make sure it’s actually a wasp. Arkansas homeowners often mistake these bees for wasps:
Our bee vs. wasp vs. hornet identification guide shows the differences side by side.
Not every nest needs to be removed. Use this approach:
For step-by-step methods, see our wasp nest removal safety guide and what wasp nest removal costs. The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service, with offices in every county, can also help identify insects.
Most stings cause pain, redness, and swelling that fade within a few days. Wash the area, apply a cold pack, and take an over-the-counter antihistamine or pain reliever if needed. See what to put on a wasp sting and what a normal sting reaction looks like.
Call 911 right away if someone has trouble breathing, swelling of the face, lips, or throat, hives spreading beyond the sting site, dizziness, or a rapid pulse, or if they’ve been stung many times. These can be signs of a life-threatening allergic reaction. People with a known sting allergy should carry their prescribed epinephrine auto-injector during wasp season. For non-emergency questions, Poison Control is available 24/7 at 1-800-222-1222. See allergic reaction to a wasp sting for more.
The most common stinging wasps in Arkansas are red wasps and other paper wasps (guinea, northern, metric, and European paper wasps), eastern and southern yellowjackets, and bald-faced hornets. Common solitary wasps include mud daubers, eastern cicada killers, great golden digger wasps, great black wasps, spider wasps, scoliid wasps, and velvet ants.
Wasps become active in March and April, build up through the summer, and peak in August and September. Activity tapers off in October and November and usually ends with the first hard freezes, which come earlier in the Ozarks than in south Arkansas.
It’s a paper wasp, usually Polistes carolina or Polistes rubiginosus. Both are large, reddish-brown, and build open paper combs under eaves and porch ceilings. They are the most common nest-building wasp around Arkansas homes.
The eastern cicada killer, at up to about 2 inches long, is the largest wasp most Arkansans will see. Despite its size, it rarely stings. The great golden digger wasp, great black wasp, and large spider wasps are also big but rarely sting.
Paper wasp queens, especially red wasps, often spend the winter in attics, wall voids, and around window frames. On warm winter or early spring days they wake up and wander inside, usually toward windows and lights. They are sluggish and rarely sting, but sealing gaps in fall will reduce how many get in.
No. The northern giant hornet has never been found in Arkansas and has been declared eradicated from Washington State, the only place it was established in the US.
A small, exposed paper wasp nest in spring can usually be handled safely by a homeowner using proper precautions. Call a professional for ground or wall-void yellowjacket nests, large hornet nests, nests that are hard to reach, or if anyone in the household is allergic to stings.
Arkansas’s long, warm season gives wasps plenty of time to build big colonies, and the paper wasps under your porch and the yellowjackets in your lawn deserve real caution, especially in August and September. But many of the wasps you’ll see in an Arkansas backyard, from mud daubers to cicada killers to scoliid wasps, are harmless or even helpful. Identify what you’re dealing with first, take care of unwanted nests early in the season, and call a professional for anything large, hidden, or within reach of someone with a sting allergy.
For a region-by-region overview of which wasps live where in the US, see our Wasps by State: Regional Identification & Seasonal Activity Guide. For species-by-species physical identification, see the Wasp Identification Guide.
Related guides:
Nearby state guides: