Local wasp information

Wasp control in Virginia

Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.

Wasps in Virginia: what to know

Around Virginia

Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.

What to note

Where you see wasps, how long it has been going on, and anything you’ve already tried are the most useful details to mention.

A useful next step

Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to identify the problem yourself before getting in touch.

Local research

Wasps in Virginia: what the public record shows

Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which wasps actually live in Virginia, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.

Wasp species recorded in Virginia

Eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons) — UF/IFAS lists it with the southern yellowjacket as Florida's two yellowjackets; OSU lists it for Ohio; Texas A&M notes it is 'generally found in eastern Texas'. Ground nests 9.5…
Bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) — Penn State: 'found in most of the 48 contiguous states and D.C., throughout Canada and in Alaska'; actually an aerial yellowjacket that builds the football-shaped gray paper nes…
European hornet (Vespa crabro) — Penn State: 'first detected in the 1840s', 'well established in the eastern United States', 'first reported from Arkansas in 1999'; workers 'up to an inch (25 mm) long', nests '…
European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) — Penn State: 'first reported in 1978 around Boston', now 'coast to coast ... although they are apparently less common in the Southeast and Great Plains'; nests in 'eaves of struc…

When wasps are busiest in Virginia

Queens emerge in April–May, colonies peak August–October, and workers die at the first hard frosts; only new queens overwinter (OSU, Penn State, UMN).

Bald-faced hornet range per Penn State covers most of the 48 contiguous states and D.C. European hornet is established across the eastern United States (Penn State).

Rules that apply in Virginia

For context, nationally

788 — Deaths from hornet, wasp, and bee stings, 2011–2021 (US). CDC MMWR
72 deaths per year — Average annual sting deaths, 2011–2021 (US). CDC MMWR

Sources: CDC MMWR; Yellowjackets and Hornets, Vespula and Dolichovespula spp. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae); Baldfaced Hornet; European Hornet; European Paper Wasp. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources

Explore Virginia cities

Alexandria

Humid Subtropical · urban setting

Wasp control in Virginia

Wasps in Virginia: what to know

Around Virginia

What to note

A useful next step

Wasps in Virginia: what the public record shows

Wasp species recorded in Virginia

When wasps are busiest in Virginia

Rules that apply in Virginia

For context, nationally

Explore Virginia cities

Alexandria

Blacksburg

Charlottesville

Chesapeake

Danville

Fredericksburg

Hampton

Harrisonburg

Leesburg

Lynchburg

Manassas

Newport News

Norfolk

Petersburg

Portsmouth

Richmond

Roanoke

Suffolk

Virginia Beach

Winchester

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