5 Bugs That Look Like Baby Roaches – One of Them Bites

Baby roaches are tiny. To an untrained eye, baby roaches may look like other bugs. 

If you can’t distinguish between the baby roaches and the baby roach look-alikes, then you’ll choose the wrong pest control methods.

And that means that you’ll fail in getting rid of the bugs that are not baby roaches.

The end result?

A spike in infestation of bugs that resemble baby roaches.

In this guide, you’ll find out the five bugs that look like baby roaches. 

These bugs are so similar to baby roaches that it’s almost impossible to tell the differences.

You’ll learn how these bugs enter homes.

Plus there are hacks and tips that will go a long way in preventing these baby-roach-looking bugs from invading your home.

What Do Tiny Baby Roaches Look Like?

The fundamental step before getting into the bugs that look like baby roaches, it’s critical to actually tell if it’s a baby roach or not.

For that you need to know what baby roaches look like.

There are over thirty different types of roaches that invade homes. We won’t go into the babies of each of these thirty roach species.

We’ll limit ourselves to the three most common roach species that invades and focus on how their babies look like.

These three common home-invading roaches are American roaches, German roaches, and oriental roaches,

Let’s find out how the nymphs or babies of each of these roaches look like. 

What Do Baby German Roaches Look Like?

The baby German cockroach is oval-shaped with a flat body. It’s dark brown, and some of them may have a yellowish spot on its back.

But if you watch them closely, probably with a magnifying glass, you’ll find horizontal scaly bands on its body. 

These scaly bands are lighter brown than in the rest of the body. 

There are six visible legs with fine hairy outshoots, an easily recognizable head crowned with a pair of antennae. 

Baby German roaches don’t have wings like the adult ones. They develop wings after repeated moltings for forty-five to sixty days. 

What Do Baby American Roaches Look Like?

Physical features of baby American roaches are like baby German roaches. 

But two stark differences distinguish them. 

Baby American roaches are oblong-shaped, and the scaly bands on their bodies have reddish edges.

Baby American roaches also don’t have developed wings. 

American roaches are the biggest in size. So, baby American roaches are also big when you compare them with baby roaches of other roach species.

What Do Baby Oriental Roaches Look Like?

Baby Oriental roaches look similar to American roaches. There are no distinguishable characteristics in baby Oriental roaches except one.

Oriental roaches are lighter in color than baby American roaches.

They’ve got a tan hue on the edge of the scaly segments, making the scaly segments on their back quite recognizable. 

Just like all baby roaches, baby oriental roaches have no wings. 

Now that you know that babies of the most common cockroaches in homes look remarkably similar, it’s time to get into bugs that look like baby roaches. 

Bugs That Look Like Baby Roaches

Bugs that look like baby roaches share three standard features with baby roaches. 

These three features are – flat oval or oblong shape body, tiny size, and a dark color. 

Let’s deep dive into the differences between these baby roach look-alikes and baby roaches

Bed Bugs

If there’s any bug that resemble baby roaches the most, it’s the bed bugs. And bed bugs look like baby German roaches, ditto.

The similarity in their colors and their oval-shaped bodies, it’s easy to think one as the other.

But there’s one critical difference between baby roaches and bed bugs.

Baby roaches have a pair of antennae and bed bugs’ antennae are too tiny to spot with a naked eye.

Another difference is that baby roaches are faster crawlers than bed bugs.

Baby roaches will scurry across the floor when they come in contact with you or if you poke them.

Like the bed bugs, baby roaches can also get onto your bed.

However, baby roaches can’t and don’t cause any infestation in your bed or soft furnishings.

Bed bugs enter homes by hitch hiking.

They’ll latch themselves onto things like luggage that you bring inside your home from bed bug infested places.

Your neighbors can also transfer bed bugs to your home if they’re wearing clothes with bed bugs on them.

It can happen because bed bugs can hide in drawers and closets where you keep your clothes.

Bed bugs are hard to get rid of and can be an expensive affair.

The most prominent and possible sign of bed bug infestation in your home is the bed bug bite marks on your body.

Other signs include, sightings of baby bed bugs or bed bug nymphs, bed bug shells, and bed bug feces on your bed and soft furnishings.

Getting rid of bed bugs can be an expensive affair.

However, you can get rid of bed bugs cheaply if you spot the bed bug infestation at the early stages.

Carpet Beetles

Now we’re not talking about similarities between the baby roaches and the carpet beetle larvae; we’re talking about the similarities between baby roaches and adult carpet beetles. 

The carpet beetle larvae or the baby carpet beetles is a tiny blackish worm with hairy bristles on their back. The baby carpet beetle is a damaging pest that infests and damages products made of animal matter.

They can also get inside kitchen and feed on stored food.

Adult carpet beetles resemble baby roaches, but not as much as the bed bugs do. The feature that makes adult carpet beetles look like baby roaches is their head.

Adult carpet beetle’s head, especially how it’s connected with its body, makes it look like baby roaches.

To add to the confusion, both baby roaches and adult carpet beetles have the same number of legs, which is six. 

But adult carpet beetles are bigger than baby roaches, and they’re not flat like baby roaches. 

Adult carpet beetles enter homes during the spring months to lay eggs on the products made of animal extracts.

So, woolen carpets, leather materials, clothes and fabric made of silk and fur, and even taxidermies are ideal places for carpet beetles to lay eggs.

The larvae of carpet beetles feed on these animal products. These larvae create holes into these expensive causing irreparable damages.

The larvae also feeds on food stains and food crumbs. That’s why it’s common to see carpet beetle larvae on your bed, especially when your bed linen are dirty with food stains.

It’s because of their presence in the bed, the carpet beetle larvae are also known as bed worms.

To remove these larvae, steam cleaning your carpets and beds is the best option. The heat from the steam cleaner kills the carpet beetle larvae.

It’s also best to dry clean expensive clothes made out of animal extracts to get rid of any potential larvae.

Not to mention vacuum cleaning your wardrobe and closet is also essential to get rid of these hiding carpet larvae and any bugs in the closet.

Installing window shields and sealing gaps and cracks on the windows, doors, and walls of your home will prevent the adult carpet beetles from flying inside your home.

These adult carpet beetles can also sneak inside your car and lay eggs.

Spraying insecticide sprays on the carpet beetles will kill them on contact.

Red Flour Beetles

Red flour beetles are pantry pests, and you’d find them in stored dry food in your kitchen pantry. 

Given their dark tan color, the red flour beetles look like baby American roaches. 

And like the red flour beetles, baby roaches can also infest stored dry food.

But the shape of red flour beetles clearly differentiates them from baby roaches. 

Red flour beetles are not oval and oblong-shaped like baby roaches. They don’t have any scaly segments like baby roaches have.

On top of that, red flour beetles are slow crawlers.

Another differentiating factor is that there’s a distinct thoracic area between the head and the lower body of the red flour beetle.

Also, you wouldn’t find red fluor beetles in places where you can find baby roaches.

You will baby roaches around roach nest, which is in places like drains, dirty areas, and in damp zones of your kitchen, bathroom, and basement. 

Red flour beetles enter homes by being present in the grain bags that you buy from grocery store.

On our post in bugs that damage grains, you’ll find detailed steps on how to get rid of these stored-food damaging pests.

Drugstore Beetles

Drugstore beetles look remarkably like baby roaches. 

Drugstore beetles are brown, and with their oval-shaped body, you’d easily confuse a drug store beetle with a baby roach. 

Here’s how you can distinguish between drugstore beetle and baby roaches.

Drugstore beetles are smaller in size than baby roaches. Baby roaches are around 5 mm to 6 mm, whereas drug store beetles are only 2mm to 3.5 mm.

Drugstore beetle’s head isn’t visible as the head of a baby roach. When you view a drug store beetle from above, the head looks like it’s hooked inwards like a beak, making it invisible. 

However, a closer look can tell you that the drugstore beetle has a pair of antennae. But the antennae’s size is smaller than the size of the antennae of a baby roach.

Drugstore beetles can fly, and they have wings, whereas baby roaches don’t. The wings rest on their back, and there’s a visible gap between the two wings. 

And finally, drugstore beetles don’t look flat. It looks humped from above that tells it’s not a baby roach. 

Like the red flour beetle, the drugstore beetle is also a pantry pest. You’d find them living inside unsecured food containers.

Booklice

Booklice or Psocids are tiny, white, gray, or brown.

You’ll find booklice bugs that you’d find in damp, undisturbed places of your home. These are the places where you can find baby roaches too.

Brown booklice look very similar to baby German roaches, whereas white ones resemble an albino baby cockroach. 

But booklice are oblong-shaped and have two sections in their thoracic portion of their back. They also have a visible nose, which is missing on a baby roach. 

Booklice are also thinner than baby roaches, and they don’t move as fast as baby roaches do. 

So, if you come across a tiny thin bug with a visible nose and a two-section thoracic back, then it’s not a baby roach; it’s a booklice or Psocids.

Booklice infest books and cardboard boxes. Booklice feed on the molds that fungi that develop old books and in furniture.

Booklice don’t cause any massive damage to your home. However, being pantry pests, booklice can cause damages to stored grains like rice.

Disposing of the damaged books and vacuum cleaning are two proven ways to get rid of booklice in homes.

However, these bugs are moisture seeking bugs. So, to control them you’ll need to control the dampness in your home.

So, install a dehumidifier and fixing water leakages inside your home to control the overall moisture levels inside your home.

Are Baby Roaches A Bad Sign?

You bet it is. If you see baby roaches inside your home, then it’s a clear sign of roach infestation. 

Without an active nest and adult cockroaches breeding and thriving inside your home, these baby roaches wouldn’t have been there.

The most common places where you’d find baby roaches are in your bathroom and kitchen.

It’s because both places have enough food supply and hiding places where the adult cockroaches can hide and breed.

And keep in mind that roaches are challenging pests to kill.

Unless you get to the source of the infestation, you wouldn’t be able to get rid of roaches from your home. 

So, it’d be best if you hire a pest controller if you see a bunch of baby roaches inside your home. 

Do Baby Roaches Bite?

No, baby roaches don’t bite humans or pets.

But baby roaches are filthy and they carry pathogens than can cause many diseases.

Being tiny, baby roaches can easily get inside food containers and can pass the pathogen on your food.

Experts say that sightings of baby roaches are more ominous than sightings of adult roaches.

Sighting of one baby cockroach indicates that there are hundreds of them, if not thousands, inside your home.

Conclusion

The 5 bugs that look like baby roaches are –

1. Bed bugs.
2. Carpet beetles.
3. Red flour beetle.
4. Drug store beetle.
5. Booklice or Psocids mites

Out of these five baby roaches look-alikes, its the bed bugs that bite and they feed on your blood.

In this post, we’ve told you how to distinguish between baby roaches and these bugs.

We’ve also told you how baby roaches look like.

Without knowing how baby roaches look like, you wouldn’t differentiate between the baby roaches and the bugs that look like baby roaches.

Physical sighting of baby roaches in your home is a clear indication of an active roach infestation. 

Contact a professional pest controller asap if you find baby roaches in your home.