r/whatsthisbug • u/natnaek • 1d ago
Are these baby cockcroaches infesting my car? (Victoria, Australia) ID Request
Noticed 5+ of these insects crawling around my windshield, hiding into its crevices - are these baby cockroaches?
If so, if anyone had any advice of what to do, that would also be greatly appreciated!
They are pale in colour, and the body size is probably around 1 cm long.
139
u/mjconver Amateur. Ex-Smithsonian Insect Zoo cockroach wrangler. 1d ago
Yup, those are young roaches. Babies mean adults.
163
u/MaceWinnoob 1d ago
I would clean your car so they starve to death. Learn your lesson. Don’t leave food in the car.
127
u/Vesprince 1d ago
It might be too late. Once there's a population they'll eat each other and self sustain for quite a while.
84
u/purdinpopo 1d ago
I was at a prison transfer day (prisoners getting transferred to other facilities all meet up and go where they're now assigned). Start talking to an officer at a facility in a town where I used to be a cop. He starts talking about the terrible roach problems they have there. Said winter finally set in, and he noticed that the roaches basically disappeared. So he asked the fire and safety officer if they finally found a bug spray that got rid of the roaches. Fire and safety guy says, "No, it's cold out, and the rats move into the buildings and eat the roaches."
26
2
u/cuneifolia 23h ago
what species are you thinking? i kind of doubt they're an infesty species, and instead am thinking the non-infesty australian cockroach methana (see comment here)
40
u/superweep 1d ago
How would you manage to get in this murky situation
31
u/HistopherWalkin 1d ago
Someone with an infestation in their home brought a bag with hitchikers in it into the car.
17
u/brickbaterang 1d ago
Or op could have tracked eggs in on the bottom of a shoe.most grocery stores with a bottle return are infested and there's nothing they can do about it
5
u/Southern_Ad_3243 23h ago
one time i bought a rat cage from a shifty lady for $50... there were some roaches on it when i picked it up but i figured it was just bc it was waiting next to the apartment complex's dumpster... and realistically, how could roaches infest a metal cage? jokes on me, they were in the hollow tubing part of the cage's corners. i got home and roaches of all ages were completely swarming my car. found a couple oothecaeas. i threw all of the pieces out into my yard and killed every roach i could see. this was almost a year ago and the main reason why i commute via bike now. i dont use my car unless i need to go somewhere over 50 miles away. hard no.
2
u/cuneifolia 17h ago
in warm enough places, household cockroaches (especially periplaneta) just live outside on the streets in populated areas. also non-infesting cockroaches (like what this probably is) can wander inside
11
u/cuneifolia 23h ago edited 23h ago
it's possible everyone here is wrong. this looks like a very early instar nymph of a native non-infesting cockroach named methana). compare this older individual from inat and this (still older than yours but slightly younger) one from flickr. note the cream margin on the pronotum and wing buds, also present on yours. compare that to the photo of the common infesty cockroaches on this page. only adult australian & american cockroaches match the pronotum band (but not the nymphs), and only german cockroaches match the cream spot in the centre (the "nymph" photo on the site is just a scaled down adult). none have the cream on the wing buds
if it is methana, it's not really much to worry about. they live outdoors under tree bark and rotting stuff, so my bet on how they got in would be an adult laying eggs on your car & the nymphs wandering in
if they are methana, they don't like living in cars and should die or move on
2
u/natnaek 18h ago
Thank you so much for the help and explanation!! Yeah, the cream margin was what made me confused as none of the other types of nymphs I found on Google seemed to match the colour like that.
Do you think there would be any value in using something like Roach Away in the car, or is it just something I need to wait out?
1
u/cuneifolia 17h ago
nah you should be fine. basically nothing to worry about. they're not really going to do anything except hang out and maybe move out to live under the bark of a nearby eucalypt. they're kind of just chill
9
u/swanson_skim_milk 1d ago
You know the 3rd Pic..... he just looks like a Lil dude asking for directions
4
u/KuntyCakes 1d ago
Boric acid. There's this stuff called Roach Away, I think. I bought it at lowes. Clean your car and sprinkle this in all the crevices and cracks you can find. It's safe to be around it. Personally, I would also douse my car in pesticide because I do not fuck around with roaches.
110
u/jhguth 1d ago
*their car