Reno sits in the Truckee Meadows at about 4,500 feet, in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada. The city gets only about 7 inches of rain a year. Winters are cold, summers are hot and dry, and a summer day can easily swing 35 to 40 degrees between dawn and mid-afternoon. That high-desert climate shapes which wasps live here and when you’ll notice them. It’s also very different from Las Vegas, so advice written for southern Nevada doesn’t always fit northern Nevada.
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.
Two things matter most for Reno homeowners. First, the season is short and ends with a rush. Cold springs keep colonies small until early summer, but yellowjacket numbers climb steeply through August and September, so late summer is when most stings happen. Second, water draws wasps in. In a landscape this dry, lawns, drip lines, pools, birdbaths, pet bowls, and evaporative coolers attract wasps from all over the block.
This guide covers the wasps you’re most likely to see in Reno and Sparks, how to tell them apart, what the local season looks like month by month, and how to deal with nests safely. For a statewide overview, including the desert species of southern Nevada, see our Nevada Wasps guide.
The western yellowjacket is the stinging insect that bothers people most in northern Nevada. Workers are about half an inch long and have bright yellow and black bands. A complete yellow ring around each eye helps tell them apart from other yellowjackets. They usually nest underground, often in old rodent burrows in lawns, under landscape rock, in sagebrush lots, or along irrigation ditches. Sometimes they nest in wall voids or other hollow spaces.
Western yellowjackets are scavengers as well as predators. By late summer they gather around picnic tables, barbecues, trash cans, and open drinks, at Idlewild Park, around Lake Tahoe, and in backyard patios alike. A colony that started with one queen in May can have thousands of workers by September, and they defend the nest fiercely. If you mow or weed-whack over an entrance hole, you can be stung many times. See our yellow jacket identification and behavior guide and yellow jacket nest guide for more detail.
The German yellowjacket (Vespula germanica) also lives in the region. It looks very similar but often nests inside buildings: in wall cavities, attics, and crawl spaces.
If you find a small, open-celled, umbrella-shaped nest under your eaves, deck railing, mailbox, or patio furniture, it was probably built by a European paper wasp. This invasive species has spread across the western United States and is now one of the most common paper wasps around homes in the Truckee Meadows. It is black and yellow and easy to mistake for a yellowjacket. Look for the longer, slimmer body, the legs that hang down in flight, and the bright orange antennae.
European paper wasps are much less defensive than yellowjackets and usually sting only when someone bumps or grabs the nest. They have taken over from native species in many urban yards because they start nesting earlier in spring and choose a wider range of man-made spots. Learn more in our European paper wasp identification guide.
Native western paper wasps, such as the golden paper wasp (Polistes aurifer), are also found in northern Nevada. They are slender and mostly yellow with reddish-brown markings, and they build the same kind of open comb as the European species. They are no more aggressive than European paper wasps. If a nest is out of the way, you can usually leave it alone. If you aren’t sure whether you have paper wasps or yellowjackets, our paper wasp vs. yellow jacket comparison explains the differences.
Bald-faced hornets (Dolichovespula maculata) are black and white, not black and yellow. They build gray, football-shaped paper nests in trees, in shrubs, or under eaves. In the Reno area you’re most likely to find them near the Truckee River corridor, in older neighborhoods with mature trees, and in the Sierra foothills toward Tahoe. Their close relative, the aerial yellowjacket (Dolichovespula arenaria), builds similar enclosed nests above ground. Both defend their nests aggressively. Don’t try to knock down an enclosed paper nest yourself. See our bald-faced hornet guide.
Mud daubers build tube-shaped or lumpy mud nests on stucco, under eaves, inside garages and sheds, and on the undersides of decks. Reno’s dry summers suit them well, since their nests last a long time without rain to wash them away. The two you’re most likely to see are:
Mud daubers are solitary, hunt spiders, and almost never sting people. They are good wasps to have around. Read more in our mud dauber guide.
Reno’s sandy, well-drained soils suit several solitary wasps that dig single burrows:
These wasps don’t defend a shared nest. They are calm around people and rarely sting unless handled. If you see wasps flying in and out of holes in your yard, check whether the holes are scattered single burrows (solitary wasps, generally harmless) or one busy entrance with steady traffic (likely a yellowjacket colony). Our wasps that live in the ground guide can help you tell them apart.
Velvet ants are fuzzy, ant-like wingless female wasps, usually red, orange, or white. Several Dasymutilla species live in the sandy soils of the Great Basin. They aren’t aggressive, but their sting is very painful, so don’t pick them up. See our velvet ant guide.
Tarantula hawks are large blue-black wasps with orange wings. They are much more common in the Mojave Desert around Las Vegas than in Reno, so seeing one in the Truckee Meadows is unusual. If you do, give it room. Its sting is famously painful but not dangerous for most people. See our tarantula hawk guide.
| Wasp | Color / Look | Nest | Defensive? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western yellowjacket | Bright yellow and black, stocky, ~1/2” | Underground, sometimes walls | Very, especially late summer |
| German yellowjacket | Yellow and black, similar to western | Wall voids, attics, ground | Very |
| European paper wasp | Black and yellow, slender, orange antennae | Open comb under eaves, rails | Mild unless nest is touched |
| Bald-faced hornet | Black and white | Gray enclosed paper “football” in trees/eaves | Very |
| Black and yellow mud dauber | Black, yellow legs, thread waist | Mud tubes on walls, garages | Rarely stings |
| Blue mud dauber | Metallic blue-black | Reuses old mud nests | Rarely stings |
| Digger / sand wasps | Varies; often orange/black or banded | Single burrows in sandy soil | Rarely stings |
| Velvet ant | Fuzzy red/orange, wingless | Ground (parasite of ground bees) | Only if handled |
Reno’s growing season is short, and frost is possible from late September through May. Most wasps can’t fly well below about 50°F (see what temperature wasps stop flying), so cold mornings delay activity even in midsummer.
For general timing guidance, see when wasps are most active.
High-desert houses have their own trouble spots. Check these each spring:
In a city with about 7 inches of rain a year, wasps need water to cool their nests and mix their nest material. One reliable water source can draw them from a long way off. To make your yard less appealing:
A paper wasp or mud dauber nest away from doors, walkways, and play areas can usually be left alone. These wasps eat caterpillars, flies, and spiders, and the colony dies off by itself in October. An empty nest won’t be reused by social wasps the next year.
A golf-ball-sized paper wasp nest in spring, with only a few wasps on it, can often be removed by a healthy, non-allergic adult. Do it at dusk or early morning, when it’s cool and the wasps are slow, and wear long sleeves, gloves, and eye protection. Use a wasp spray labeled for the purpose and follow the label exactly, then scrape the nest down the next day. Our guide to the best time to spray a wasp nest explains the timing.
Call a licensed pest control professional if:
Never pour gasoline or other flammable liquids into a ground nest, and never try to burn a nest. Beyond the obvious injury risk, open flames are especially dangerous in Reno’s dry, fire-prone summers. For step-by-step guidance, read our wasp nest removal safety guide.
Traps baited with heptyl butyrate attract western yellowjackets well, but they draw few German yellowjackets and almost no paper wasps. Hang traps in April and May to catch queens before they start colonies, and place them away from patios so you don’t pull wasps toward where people sit. A trap won’t wipe out an established nest, but it can lower numbers around the yard. See our wasp trap guide.
Most stings cause pain, redness, and swelling that ease within a day or two. Wash the area, apply a cold pack, and use an over-the-counter antihistamine or pain reliever if needed. See our wasp sting treatment guide.
Call 911 right away if someone has trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, hives spreading away from the sting, dizziness, or a racing heartbeat, or if they have been stung many times. These can be signs of anaphylaxis. People with known sting allergies should carry their prescribed epinephrine auto-injector when hiking, camping, or picnicking around Reno and Tahoe in late summer. Learn the warning signs in our allergic reaction to wasp sting guide. For non-emergency questions, Poison Control is available at 1-800-222-1222.
Not every buzzing insect is a wasp. Honey bees, bumble bees, and many native solitary bees are vital pollinators in Reno gardens and should not be sprayed. Bees are fuzzier and rounder than wasps and carry pollen on their legs. See our guide to the difference between bees and wasps.
Africanized honey bees have been established in southern Nevada since the late 1990s. Northern Nevada’s cold winters have limited their spread, but treat any honey bee swarm or colony with caution. If a swarm settles on your property, contact a local beekeeper or bee removal service rather than spraying it.
Queens become active in April and May, colonies grow through June and July, and activity peaks in late August and September. The first hard freezes in October usually end the season.
By late summer, western yellowjacket colonies have reached full size while natural prey and nectar are running low. Workers switch to scavenging meat, sweets, and drinks, which brings them into direct contact with people.
In most Reno neighborhoods, it’s the European paper wasp. Look for an open, umbrella-shaped comb with visible cells and a slender wasp with orange antennae.
No. The northern giant hornet (often called the “murder hornet”) has only been found in a small area of northwestern Washington State and nearby British Columbia, and it has not been found in Nevada. Large wasps in Reno are usually digger wasps, bald-faced hornets, or yellowjacket queens.
Overwintering queens sometimes shelter in attics and wall voids. On a warm day, or when the furnace heats a wall, they wake up and wander indoors. One or two winter wasps are normal and don’t mean you have an active nest.
No. Social wasps in Reno don’t reuse old nests, so an empty paper nest is harmless. You can remove it in winter if you like, but the colony won’t come back to it.
For a statewide overview, see our Nevada Wasps guide. For a region-by-region look at which wasps live where in the US, see our Wasps by State: Regional Identification & Seasonal Activity Guide. For species-by-species identification, see the Wasp Identification Guide.
More wasp guides: