North Texas’s humid subtropical climate creates perfect conditions for stinging insects year-round. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and surrounding counties see peak stinging insect activity during late summer and early fall when colonies reach maximum populations.
Over 500,000 people visit emergency rooms annually due to stinging insect encounters, with allergic reactions ranging from mild swelling to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Understanding how to identify stinging insects in North Texas helps you avoid painful encounters and respond appropriately when you discover nests on your property.
1. Honey Bee
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are fuzzy, golden-brown insects with dark bands across their stocky abdomens, measuring approximately half an inch in length. Their bodies are covered in fine hairs designed to collect pollen as they move between flowers. You’ll recognize them by their deliberate, relatively slow flight patterns compared to the darting movements of wasps.
These social insects form permanent colonies containing 30,000 to 60,000 individuals organized into three groups: a single egg-laying queen, thousands of female workers, and male drones. Unlike most stinging insects that die off in winter, honey bee colonies survive cold weather by clustering together and consuming stored honey for warmth and energy throughout the season…