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Sticker of Common methana
Bug card No. 1098 of 4,939

Common methana

Methana marginalis
Eats: Leftovers and dead thingsCockroaches and termitesForests and woods6 legs

The common methana is a big dark brown cockroach from Australia. A light yellow band runs all around the edge of its body, like a frame. It usually lives outdoors under bark and among leaves.

Lives in
Coastal Queensland in Australia, now also southeastern Australia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand
Length
2.7 to 2.9 cm (1.1 to 1.1 in)
Top speed
about 2.9 km/h (1.8 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Like most cockroaches, it nibbles on dead plants and leftovers it finds.
For real!Photo of Common methana
Picture by Andrew Allen. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Common methana about 2.9 cm long (1.1 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 1.2 secondsmoves 28 times its own body length every second

How big is Common methana compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It hides under the bark of dead trees and is very common in banana plantations.

2

The mother glues her egg cases under loose bark or fallen leaves and covers them with bits of dirt to hide them.

3

It probably reached Norfolk Island by riding along with plants from a garden nursery.

4

It is spreading south and has been seen in Sydney, Victoria, Tasmania and even New Zealand.

5

Lately it has started moving into some Australian homes.

you asked

Most asked questions about Common methana

?Is the common methana dangerous?

No. It is a harmless outdoor cockroach that does not bite or sting.

?How big is the common methana?

It is about 27 to 28.5 millimetres long, quite big for a cockroach.

?Where does the common methana live?

It comes from the coast of Queensland in Australia, under bark and in leaves.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Methana marginalis
Named by
Saussure, 1864
Group
Cockroaches and termites
Family
Blattidae
Classification
Insecta > Blattodea > Blattidae
Lives on
Australia and Oceania, Asia
Also known as
Bush cockroach

Where the facts come from

  1. Methana marginalis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Andrew Allen. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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