Saw a Giant Hornet in Schertz? What It Most Likely Is
That giant wasp in your Schertz yard was not a "murder hornet." The species people mean, first called the Asian giant hornet and now the northern giant hornet, has zero confirmed Texas records, and in December 2024 USDA and Washington state officials declared the whole U.S. population wiped out. What you saw was almost certainly a native insect, most often a cicada killer digging in sunny ground. When the real culprit is nesting by your door or inside a wall, a technician can identify it: book online or reach us at (210) 281-1064 by call or text.
Where it was, and where it never was #
On this continent the hornet turned up only in British Columbia and in one Washington county, Whatcom. Crews found four U.S. nests over 2020 and 2021, every one inside a hollow alder. Once three straight years passed without a confirmed find, Washington's agriculture department and USDA announced eradication on December 18, 2024 (WSDA).
It never reached Texas. The Texas Apiary Inspection Service's own page says the hornet is not present here (TAIS), and AgriLife entomologists have written that our hot summers make Texas a poor fit for it. The newer name dates to July 2022, when the national entomology society retired "Asian giant hornet."
A big town with a lot of eyes on the yard #
The Census Bureau estimates Schertz had 44,428 residents in July 2024. That is a lot of people mowing, gardening and walking dogs in summer, which is exactly when the big native wasps are out. The city's parks page also points residents to natural parks and hike-and-bike trails, where flowers and open, sunny ground bring large wasps into view.
None of that means a giant hornet is here. It means Schertz residents meet plenty of big, intimidating insects that are supposed to be here, and a few of them look the part.
Match what you saw to what it really was #
- Digging dime- to quarter-size holes in lawn or beds: cicada killer, 1 to 1 1/2 inches, rust-colored up front with yellow bands behind. Males cannot sting. See cicada killer control in Schertz.
- Shiny blue-black body, orange or black wings, working the flowers: tarantula hawk. See tarantula hawk control in Schertz.
- Very large, mostly orange wasp in spring: a southern yellowjacket queen looking for a nest site. See yellowjacket control in Schertz.
- Black and white, with a pale face, near a closed paper nest up in a tree: baldfaced hornet. See baldfaced hornet control in Schertz.
- Fuzzy and round, about 3/4 inch: a bumble bee or carpenter bee.
- Hornet colors but no pinched waist: a pigeon horntail, which has no venom and cannot sting.
The head test #
Per AgriLife, the genuine article measures 1.5 to 2 inches, and its bright yellow-orange head is at least as broad as the shoulders behind it, sitting in front of a dark brown thorax and a narrow waist. A cicada killer, the usual suspect, has a head narrower than its thorax. If the head on your insect is small compared with the body behind it, that alone rules out a giant hornet.
Still not sure? Here is how to report it #
TAIS spells out the Texas route:
- Take pictures while keeping your distance, and never try to capture it.
- Upload them to the Insect ID form run by Texas A&M's entomology department.
- For a suspected raid on honey bee hives, reach TAIS directly at 979-321-5827 or [email protected].
Reports sent to Washington State go nowhere; that agency accepts sightings from Washington only.
Go easy on the cicada killers #
These wasps are native, solitary and beneficial, and AgriLife's wasp bulletin says they seldom justify control. Wear shoes where they dig. Our giant hornet guide explains the look-alikes in more depth.
Where Pest Trappers fits in #
There are no giant hornets in Texas for anyone to treat. A Pest Trappers technician's job after a scare is to name the insect and locate its nest, if any. Some look-alikes, such as cicada killers and tarantula hawks, rarely need any treatment; a yellowjacket colony in a wall or a hornet nest by a door often does. You hear the options first, any product goes on strictly per its label, and the price is set once the inspection is done. The work is done by Pest Trappers LLC (TPCL #0887549), a family business holding a Texas Department of Agriculture license. Our Schertz page lists the other pests we treat.