If you’re a homeowner in Florida, you’ve almost certainly met a wasp or two: a paper wasp nest on the frame of your pool cage, yellow jackets coming out of a hole in a sandy lawn, or a huge wasp digging along the edge of the driveway. Florida’s wasps behave differently from those in most of the country for one simple reason: winter is short or missing. In much of the state wasps are active for most of the year, colonies can run later into the season, and some species reach sizes that northern homeowners rarely see.
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.
Not every Florida wasp is a threat, though. Many of the largest and most alarming-looking species are solitary hunters that rarely sting and help control caterpillars, spiders, crickets, lawn grubs, and even cockroaches. This guide covers the wasps Florida homeowners actually run into, how to tell them apart, how the season changes from the Panhandle to the Keys, and where to look for nests around a Florida home. For a nationwide view, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern yellowjacket | Small (½ in), bright yellow and black, stocky, fast | Underground, sometimes wall voids | High: defends nest in large numbers |
| Red wasps | Large, slender, reddish-brown, dangling legs | Open paper comb under eaves, sheds, lanais | Moderate to high near the nest |
| Other paper wasps (Guinea, brown and yellow Polistes) | Slender, brown or yellow-and-brown | Open comb on pool cages, shutters, railings, shrubs | Moderate near the nest |
| Bald-faced hornet | Black and white, ¾ in | Large gray paper ball in trees and shrubs | High near the nest (more common in north Florida) |
| Mud daubers | Long thread waist, black-and-yellow or metallic blue | Mud tubes and cells on walls, ceilings, garages | Very low |
| Cicada killer | Huge (up to 1½ in), black and rust with yellow bands | Burrows in sandy soil, lawn edges | Very low |
| Scoliid wasps | Large, hairy, black with yellow or orange spots | Solitary; hunt grubs in lawns | Very low |
| Ensign wasps | Tiny, black, bobbing flag-like abdomen | No nest; develop in cockroach egg cases | Essentially none |
The first four rows cause almost all wasp sting problems around Florida homes. The bottom four are mostly beneficial and rarely sting.
Florida stretches roughly 450 miles from north to south, and its wasp season changes a great deal along the way. For the broader pattern of daily and seasonal activity, see when are wasps most active and at what temperature do wasps stop flying.
| Region | What to expect |
|---|---|
| North Florida and the Panhandle (Pensacola, Tallahassee, Jacksonville) | The closest thing to a “normal” season. Freezes in December–February shut down most colonies. Queens start new nests in March–April, colonies peak in late summer and fall, and yellowjacket activity often lasts into November or December. |
| Central Florida (Orlando, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Gainesville) | Only brief cold snaps. Paper wasps start nests as early as February, and activity runs from late winter well into early winter. Yellowjackets and paper wasps peak from late summer through fall. |
| South Florida (Miami, Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale, the Keys) | Wasps can be active year-round. Paper wasp nests turn up in almost any month, and there’s no reliable winter “reset.” |
Two points matter most for Florida homeowners:
Social wasps live in colonies, build paper nests, and defend them as a group. They’re responsible for nearly all serious sting incidents in Florida.
The southern yellowjacket is Florida’s main yellowjacket. It’s a small, stocky, bright yellow and black wasp. Queens are noticeably larger and more orange than workers. Colonies usually nest underground in sandy lawns, landscape beds, and old root or rodent cavities, and sometimes in wall voids and other hollow spaces in buildings. The only sign above ground is usually a single entrance hole with steady traffic.
Florida sting incidents usually happen when someone mows, edges, or rakes over a nest they didn’t know was there. Yellowjackets also scavenge at trash cans, pool-side drinks, and outdoor meals in fall. The eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons) also occurs in north Florida. For full biology, see our yellow jackets hub guide. For Florida look-alikes, see yellow wasps in Florida and black and yellow wasps in Florida.
What to do: Don’t pour anything into the hole or try to plug it. If a yellowjacket nest is in a lawn, beside a walkway, or inside a wall, have it treated by a licensed professional. See ground wasps in Florida and yellow jacket nests.
Paper wasps are the wasps Floridians see most often. They build open, umbrella-shaped paper combs with the cells visible from below, and they attach them to almost anything sheltered: soffits, porch ceilings, door frames, playsets, grills, mailboxes, and above all pool cage and lanai screen enclosures.
Paper wasps are less aggressive than yellowjackets away from the nest, but they will sting to defend a comb, and their stings hurt. Our paper wasps in Florida guide and the main paper wasps hub cover identification and removal in detail.
“Hornet” is used loosely, so here’s what’s actually in Florida:
For the differences between these groups, see wasp vs hornet vs yellow jacket.
Solitary wasps don’t build colonies or defend a shared nest. Each female provisions her own nest with paralyzed prey, and most will only sting if they’re grabbed or stepped on barefoot.
Mud daubers build tubes and clusters of mud cells on walls, ceilings, garages, sheds, and pool equipment, and they’re extremely common in Florida. The black-and-yellow mud dauber, the organ-pipe mud dauber, and the metallic blue mud dauber all hunt spiders to feed their young. See the mud daubers hub and blue wasps in Florida.
The eastern cicada killer is the biggest wasp most Floridians will see, and the one most often mistaken for something dangerous. It digs burrows in sandy, sunny soil along sidewalks, driveways, and lawn edges from early summer through August. Males patrol and dive-bomb people but can’t sting, and females are very unlikely to. See cicada killer wasps in Florida, giant wasps of Florida, large wasps in Florida, and killer wasps in Florida.
A related myth: the executioner wasp isn’t found in Florida. See executioner wasp in Florida for what people are usually seeing.
Florida has several large, dark solitary wasps. There’s the all-black great black wasp, blue-black spider wasps that drag paralyzed spiders across patios, and digger wasps such as the great golden digger that hunt crickets and katydids. They’re conspicuous on flowers in summer but rarely sting. See Florida black wasps and the black wasps guide.
The large, hairy scoliid wasps you see flying low over Florida lawns in late summer are hunting beetle grubs underground. That makes them a free lawn-care ally, not a nest to worry about. Potter and mason wasps build small mud pots or plug holes and hollow stems, and they stock their nests with caterpillars. See the scoliid wasp guide and potter wasp guide.
Florida homes have some nesting spots you won’t find in other states. Check these regularly, especially from late winter through spring when nests are still small:
Storm cleanup warning: after a hurricane or tropical storm, clearing downed branches, shrubs, and debris is one of the most common ways Floridians disturb hidden nests. Look before you grab, and wear long sleeves and gloves. For more, see wasp nests in Florida and the complete guide to wasp nests.
If you’re stung, see the wasp sting treatment guide. Call 911 for hives spreading beyond the sting site, swelling of the face or throat, trouble breathing, dizziness, or many stings at once.
What is the most common wasp in Florida? Paper wasps, including red wasps, are the wasps Florida homeowners see most often, because they nest in plain sight on houses and lanais. Southern yellowjackets are the most common cause of multiple-sting incidents.
Is there a wasp season in Florida? Yes, but it’s long. In north Florida, activity drops sharply during winter freezes. In central Florida there’s only a brief lull. In South Florida, wasps can be active year-round. Across the state, colonies are largest and most defensive from late summer through fall.
Are there murder hornets in Florida? No. The Asian giant hornet has never been established in Florida. The very large wasps Floridians report are almost always cicada killers, which rarely sting.
Do wasps die off in winter in Florida? In north Florida, most social wasp colonies die in winter, and only mated queens survive to start new nests in spring. Farther south, colonies can keep going through mild winters, and some southern yellowjacket colonies become perennial.
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.
Nearby state guides: