Ants & wasps
This is the group that actually stings people. Not spiders, not scorpions — wasps and ants account for the overwhelming majority of envenomations in the United States, and one species is responsible for most of them.
14 species, each checked against a reference source.
All species
- Bald-faced HornetDolichovespula maculataTake care
- BumblebeeBombus impatiensHarmless
- Carpenter AntCamponotus pennsylvanicusHarmless
- Carpenter BeeXylocopa virginicaHarmless
- Cicada KillerSphecius speciosusHarmless
- Fire AntSolenopsis invictaTake care
- Great Black WaspSphex pensylvanicusHarmless
- Harvester AntPogonomyrmex barbatusTake care
- Mud DauberSceliphron caementariumHarmless
- Paper WaspPolistes fuscatusTake care
- Red WaspPolistes carolinaTake care
- Tarantula HawkPepsis grossaTake care
- Velvet AntDasymutilla occidentalisTake care
- YellowjacketVespula maculifronsTake care
Start with a photograph
Identify an insect from a photo. The result includes confidence, common lookalikes and a plain safety assessment; read its accuracy and limits before treating a low-evidence photo as definitive.
Found a mark but not the animal? See why a bite cannot identify the bug.
Wasp, bee or ant
All three are the same order, which is why they keep getting mixed up, and the differences that matter are the ones that predict behaviour rather than the ones that look obvious.
- Hairy and carrying pollen on its legs is a bee. Glossy and hairless is a wasp.
- Legs dangling in flight means a paper wasp; legs tucked up means a yellowjacket.
- A wingless ant-shaped insect covered in bright fur is a velvet ant, which is a wasp, and it stings.
- Elbowed antennae and a pinched waist mean ant; straight antennae and a straight body mean termite.
- Solitary species have no colony to defend and almost never sting. Nearly all stinging incidents involve social species.
The frightening ones and the stinging ones are different animals
The insects that behave alarmingly here are largely the ones that cannot hurt you. A cicada killer the length of your thumb will fly straight at your face — that is a male, and males have no sting at all. The carpenter bee hovering aggressively at your porch is also a male, also stingless. Meanwhile the yellowjacket quietly working its way into your drink can sting you repeatedly, and the one that actually sends people to hospital is a ground nest nobody saw before the mower reached it. Size and boldness are close to useless as a danger signal in this group. Nest type is the one that works.
Common questions
What stung me?
In late summer, statistically a yellowjacket. They are the wasp around food and bins, they sting repeatedly, and they are far more numerous around people than any other stinging species here.
Which sting hurts the most?
Of the species on this site, the tarantula hawk, with the velvet ant and the harvester ant close behind. All three are intensely painful and none is medically dangerous to someone who is not allergic.
Do I need to remove a nest I have found?
Often not. Paper wasp and bumblebee colonies are small, annual and never reused, and they eat pests all summer. A yellowjacket ground nest or a bald-faced hornet nest near a door is a different matter.
When is a sting an emergency?
We identify, we don't diagnose. Difficulty breathing, swelling of the face or throat, dizziness or a rash spreading away from the sting need immediate medical attention, as does any sting inside the mouth or a large number of stings at once.