Tarantula Hawk Control in Schertz, TX
The tarantula hawk is the wasp Schertz residents describe as "huge, shiny blue-black, with bright orange wings," usually seen working the flowers in a bed or flicking its wings as it walks across a sidewalk. Your first move should be to let it be: it never builds a nest on a house, the adults live mostly on nectar, and Texas Parks and Wildlife says it shows no unprovoked aggression toward people. Unsure what you saw, or worried because an allergic family member keeps meeting big wasps at the door? Book online, or call or text (210) 281-1064.
Why you see them on flowers, not on your house #
These are spider wasps, and a Texas Parks and Wildlife profile says roughly 13 of the world's 250-plus kinds live in this state. Bodies usually reach about 2 inches and shine an oily blue-black, while wings and antennae come in metallic black, orange or red (TPW Magazine).
The adults are, in TPWD's words, docile vegetarians. They spend their days on blossoms, especially in the morning and evening, and are known to favor milkweed. Only a female out hunting has any business with spiders: she paralyzes a tarantula with her sting, drags it into a burrow and leaves one egg on it, and the larva feeds on the living spider.
Because they are solitary, they never build a shared nest under an eave or in a wall. That is the biggest practical difference from the wasps that usually bring people to call us.
Limestone, open ground and the edge of town #
A tarantula hawk goes where its prey goes. According to AgriLife, people run into Texas tarantulas more in the rocky country of the central and southwestern parts of the state, and male tarantulas wander from May into August hunting for mates (AgriLife).
The San Antonio River Authority's master plan for the Cibolo Creek watershed, which takes in Schertz, describes the region's Edwards Aquifer as karst limestone 300 to 700 feet thick, buried underground. The same plan notes that the upper watershed shifts into a zone of urban growth near Selma, with medium-density homes, Randolph Air Force Base and commercial development (SARA).
No source maps tarantulas inside Schertz itself. Practically, a yard that backs onto open ground, a drainage channel or an undeveloped tract is where one is likelier to appear, and a bed of nectar flowers is where you will notice it.
How painful is the sting, really? #
About as bad as an insect sting gets. On Justin Schmidt's pain scale it scored a 4, the maximum, a rating TPWD says only three insects have earned; Schmidt called it excruciating and debilitating. TPWD also says the agony is over within minutes and does no permanent harm.
Only females carry a stinger, and Colorado State Extension says they need extreme provocation before they use it. Stings almost always happen when someone grabs, steps on or traps one.
Watch anyone who is stung. AgriLife's bulletin on venomous animals says to get medical help fast for trouble breathing or swallowing, weakness, dizziness, vomiting or a rash, and lists the Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222.
Is it a tarantula hawk or something else? #
- Tarantula hawk: long-legged, blue-black, orange or black wings, on flowers or the ground. Solitary.
- Blue mud dauber: dark blue as well, but smaller, with a long, threadlike waist, and it builds with mud. See mud dauber control in Schertz.
- Carpenter bee: chunky, shiny black, hovering around wood trim.
- Velvet ant: fuzzy, red and black, crawling on the ground, also with a fierce sting. See velvet ant control in Schertz.
Our tarantula hawk guide has more on the life cycle.
What to do when one turns up #
- Leave it alone. Colorado State Extension recommends no control and says stepping in usually is not necessary.
- Teach children not to catch or touch large wasps of any kind.
- Do not spray the flower bed. These wasps are pollinators, and spraying blooms harms the insects you want.
When a call to Pest Trappers makes sense #
There is no nest to treat, so most tarantula hawk calls end with an identification and some advice. A visit is useful if you cannot tell what you are seeing, if big wasps keep turning up near a doorway where an allergic person passes, or if the "tarantula hawk" turns out to be something that does nest on the house. The technician explains what they find and any options, and follows the label on anything applied. Pricing is set after the inspection. The company is Pest Trappers LLC (TPCL #0887549), family-run and licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture. See the Schertz page for other pests we cover.