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Sticker of Amber wood cockroach
Bug card No. 0065 of 4,939

Amber wood cockroach

Ectobius vittiventris
Eats: Leftovers and dead thingsCockroaches and termitesGardens and meadows6 legs

The amber wood cockroach is a slim, light brown cockroach that lives outdoors in bushes and gardens. Its feelers are about twice as long as its body. It flies well and is attracted to lamps, so it sometimes flies in through an open window.

Lives in
Southern Europe, now spreading north into Switzerland, Germany and Austria, in gardens and bushes
Length
0.9 to 1.4 cm (0.35 to 0.55 in)
Top speed
about 2 km/h (1.2 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Completely harmless to people. It does not bite and does not spoil food.
What does it eat?
It eats rotting plant bits, like old leaves, outdoors.
For real!Photo of Amber wood cockroach
Picture by Amada44. CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Amber wood cockroach about 1.4 cm long (0.55 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
as long as 2.5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 1.8 secondsmoves 40 times its own body length every second

How big is Amber wood cockroach compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Unlike the cockroaches that live in kitchens, it is active in the daytime.

2

Since about 1999 it has been moving north, and it now lives in gardens in Vienna and many parts of Germany.

3

Warm, dry summers can make lots of them hatch at once.

4

The front part of its body has a see-through edge, like amber.

you asked

Most asked questions about Amber wood cockroach

?Is the amber wood cockroach a pest?

No. It eats only rotting plants outdoors and does not eat food in the house.

?Why is a cockroach flying into my house?

This cockroach is attracted to lights at night. Just help it back outside.

Myth buster

Myth: A cockroach that flies into your home will move in and become a pest.

Truth: Not this one. It eats only rotting plants and cannot survive indoors for more than a few days because there is no food for it.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Ectobius vittiventris
Group
Cockroaches and termites
Family
Ectobiidae
Classification
Insecta > Blattodea > Ectobiidae
Lives on
Europe
Also known as
Amber forest cockroach, Garden cockroach

Where the facts come from

  1. Ectobius vittiventris (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 Amada44. CC BY 3.0, 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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