If you’ve noticed yellow bugs on your car, then you’re not alone. With the arrival of spring, many small bugs of various colors become active.
And they show up in unlikely places and things, such as your car.
While they are harmless to humans and pets, they can be a nuisance to car owners, as their numbers can quickly multiply and leave unsightly marks on the car’s exterior.
In this guide, you’ll find out 7 types of tiny yellow bugs on cars, their behavior, and how to prevent them from congregating on your vehicle.
Let’s dive in.
Why Bugs Get Onto And Into Cars
Bugs get inside cars because they provide warm and sheltered environments that bugs can use for protection or nesting.
Bugs also find food sources in cars. The most common food sources that attract bugs to cars are food and beverage stains and food crumbs.
Bugs not only get inside cars. There are many bugs that can land on the car’s exteriors too.
It happens during the spring and summer months when most outdoor bugs and garden pests are active.
When the car is parked underneath trees or near dense vegetation, then the spillover of bugs and insects from them onto your car’s exterior is bound to happen.
Some bugs are attracted to the light-colored and reflective shiny surfaces of the cars. They misconstrue the car as potential mates or food sources!
The scents of the chemicals from the car, exhaust fumes, and fruity smell of some specific car odor eliminators attract bugs.
Wasps are one of the stinging flies that can get inside the cars attracted by the fruity smell.
7 Little Yellow Bugs That Gather On Cars
- Yellow thrips
- Baby yellow spiders
- Spider mites
- Globular springtails
- Lime green spittle bugs
- Yellow ladybugs
- Carpet beetle larvae
- Varroa mites
These bugs are tiny. Some of them are too small to notice with the naked eye.
But when their numbers increase, they appear as dusty yellowish layer on the car.
These little yellow bugs become prominent on the car’s exterior and windshield, especially when the car is white.
Let’s get into how to identify each of these yellow bugs and their sources.
Yellow Thrips
Yellow thrips are small, slender, elongated, and winged insects that are about 1.5 mm in length. They are yellowish-brown or pale yellow in color and have fringed wings. They have six legs, and their antennae are long and slender.
Yellow thrips are common plant pests that infest gardens, ornamental plants, and even crop fields.
They feed on plants by piercing the leaves and sucking out the sap, which can cause leaves to become discolored, deformed, or stunted.
Too many yellow thrips in your garden are harmful for your plants because over time they make the plants weak.
When you park your car near a vegetation that has yellow thrips, then these tiny yellow insects will land on your car while flying around.
Bright yellow and blue colors attract yellow thrips. So, if your car is one of these two colors, then yellow thrips will surely land on your car.
Thrips are most active during warm weather conditions, and they target plants during the summer.
Yellow thrips do not cause any harm to humans. But these tiny yellow bugs can bite if they accidentally land you.
The bite is just an interrogatory bite to figure out if the thing they landed on is a plant or not.
Yellow Baby Spiders
Many spider species can get inside the car and lay eggs inside the car.
Some of the spider species that are adept at sneaking inside cars are yellow sac spider, orb weaver spider, wolf spiders, and jumping spiders.
The babies, or spiderlings, of these spiders are yellow or orange.
These spiders will hide in the tightest corners of your cars. Some of them will also lay their eggs inside the car.
When the eggs hatch, hundreds of tiny yellow baby spiders appear both inside and outside the car.
There are many factors that draw spiders to your car. The first, as mentioned before, the security and shelter that the car provides.
Second, the presence of other bugs inside the car will also draw spiders because spiders hunt those bugs.
Ants and cockroaches are some of the most common bugs that sneak inside cars. And these pests will attract spiders.
However, keep in mind that not all baby spiders are yellow or orange. The color depends on the spider species.
Some baby spiders can be white or gray.
Yellow Spider Mites
Spider mites are tiny arachnids that grow up to only 1/50 inches in size. They’re oval-shaped with eight legs.
Spider mites are plant pests that are active during the warmer days of the year.
Yellow spider mites can infest ornamental plants, fruit trees, vegetable plants, and even indoor plants.
However, spider mites can be white, green, and red too.
Spider mites of all colors attack the tender undersides of the leaves and tiny branches. They’ve got well developed mouth parts that sink into the leaf veins to draw out the sap.
Spider mites damage on plants appears as the leaves turn yellow, a dusty layer on the plants, and spun silken webs on the plants.
Yellow spider mites can get on the car’s exterior when your car is close to shrubs and plantations with yellow spider mites on them.
As yellow spider mites are tiny, they can also get inside the car through the smallest of openings.
But they can’t survive in the car for long.
Spider mites of all colors are harmless to humans, and they don’t bite.
Globular Springtails
Globular springtails are a species of springtails that are not cylindrical or elliptical.
Globular springtails are tiny, growing between 1 and 2 mm in length, yellow, oval-shaped, and they’ve got six legs.
These tiny yellow bugs reside in decaying organic wastes such as leaf litter, damp soil beds, and other moist areas.
All springtails are jumping bugs. But globular springtails can also spin.
Globular springtails are active year-round. But they’re more active during the spring and fall months.
Globular springtails can accidentally get onto cars when they are in the vicinity of the car or on vegetation near the car.
Your car doesn’t attract the globular springtails. But they can jump over from the infested plants onto your car while they’re mating or looking for new habitat.
These bugs are more visible on light-colored cars.
Globular springtails do not bite humans and are not known to transmit any diseases.
Lime Green Spittle Bugs
Lime green spittle bugs, also known as froghoppers or spittle insects, are small insects that are typically about 1/4 inch in size.
They have a bright lime green or yellow-green color with distinctive black markings on their backs. They have six legs and two antennae.
You’ll find the lime green spittle bugs in a wide range of habitats, including grasslands, forests, and gardens.
They feed on plant sap and use their sharp mouthparts to pierce the plant’s tissue and extract the sap.
Clover, alfalfa, and legumes are some of the common plants that the lime green spittle bugs infest.
Lime green spittle bugs don’t bite humans and pets. To us, they’re harmless. They are most active during the summer months, and they’re present in areas with high humidity.
Lime green spittle bugs get spillover onto your car while hitching a ride on the plants or other surfaces that they crawl on.
The presence of these bugs on your car is purely accidental. And they don’t cause any damage to your car if they ever get onto one.
Yellow Ladybugs (Asian Ladybeetle)
The Asian ladybeetle, yellow bug with black spots on them, can get onto your car if you’ve parked your car near their habitat.
These ladybeetles or ladybugs will get inside every crevice of your car’s doors, in the air vents, and in corner of the car.
However, they’re not the only yellow ladybugs that can get onto your car.
There are many yellow ladybug species with dark spots on them.
Light-colored cars and surfaces attract ladybugs. If you park your car near grassy areas or garden, where these ladybugs hide, then they’ll land on your car.
Warm surfaces also attract ladybugs. If you park your car in direct sunlight, or in a warm location, then you car will attract them.
Additionally, if there are other bugs such as thrips, aphids, and tiny spiders on your car’s surface then they can also draw the ladybugs.
It’s because hunt and eat these garden pests.
Asian lady beetles, also known as Harmonia axyridis, can bite humans.
However, they do not typically bite unless they feel threatened or agitated. The bites are usually not harmful and may result in minor irritation or swelling.
It’s important to avoid handling these lady beetles or disturbing them to reduce the risks of ladybug bites.
The yellow ladybugs are active during the spring and fall months. So, there’s a high chance that you’ll notice these little yellow bugs with dark spots on your car during these periods.
Carpet Beetle Larvae
Carpet beetles in cars are a common problem. These beetles lay their eggs inside the nooks and corners of your car.
Their larvae, which is a tiny brownish worm with yellow or tan stripes and hairy bristles, are damaging pests.
The larvae will feed on the fabric of the car’s interiors, leaving behind small holes and fecal deposits.
If your car’s interiors are made of leather, then it’s even better for the larvae.
It’s because the larvae feed on natural fibers like wool, silk, and leather.
Some carpet beetle larvae can crawl out of the car, in search of food, and appear on car’s exteriors.
On noticing the larvae, you must inspect your car.
Sighting of one carpet beetle larvae indicates that there are more because a single female adult carpet beetle always lays multiple eggs.
Varroa Mites
Varroa mites are parasites that infect honeybees. Varroa mites are tiny. The adult male varroa mites are 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm in size. The adult females are 1.1 mm to 1.6 mm in size.
Varroa mites are reddish-brown and can appear as tiny yellow dots.
Varroa mites have eight legs, and they have hairy bristles on their bodies. They’ll latch onto the honeybees to feed on their hemolymph (insect blood).
Varroa mites live in beehives. The infected honeybees introduce these parasites to their colonies.
Cars with bright colors, such as blue, purple, and yellow, can draw the honeybees. As these colors are often associated with flowers, your bright colored car can draw the honeybees.
Also, if there’s a fruity smell coming from your car, then it can draw the honeybees too, just like the way it attracts wasps.
As honeybees are active during the late spring and early summer, you may see varroa mites on your car during this period.
The varroa mites from the honeybees’ bodies can drop off on your car. And these varroa mites will appear as tiny yellowish or reddish dots crawling on the car.
Another way that varroa mites can get to your car is if you’ve been transporting beekeeping equipment with varroa mites or have parked your car close to beehives.
Varroa mites don’t bite humans.
How To Get Rid Of Tiny Yellow Bugs On Cars?
Keeping your car clean from the inside, parking it away from dense vegetation and trees during, and washing your car will remove these small yellow bugs on the car.
If you’ve a lush green yard or garden, then many of these plant pests, such as thrips and yellow lime spittle bugs will be active.
Therefore, keeping your garden free from pests and attracting these pests’ natural predators will reduce the likelihood of yellow bugs showing up on your car.
Tiny Yellow Spots On Cars
The little yellow spots that you find on your car’s exteriors can be bug poop.
Bugs that land on the car, especially the white bugs like aphids and yellow bugs like thrips, that feed on the plant’s sap, leave behind their yellowish fecal droppings on the car.
These fecal droppings appear as yellowish smears on the car’s exterior.
However, there are other things that can show up as yellow spots on cars –
Tree Sap: Many trees release their sap, which can drip onto cars parked underneath them. That leaves behind yellowish stains.
Pollen: During spring and summer many trees and flowers release pollens. These pollens can settle on the car, appearing as a layer of yellow dust.
Bird Droppings: Bird droppings can be yellowish in color and can cause damage to the car’s paint if left for too long.
Rust: If the car is getting rusty then the rust will appear as yellowish discoloration on the car.
Road Paint: Yellow Road markings and paint can sometimes splash onto the car’s surface while driving.
Conclusion
Most tiny yellow bugs on cars spill over from their habitat, which are dense vegetation and underneath trees.
These bugs don’t cause extensive damage to your car’s exterior, except leaving behind their fecal deposits on the car.
But the carpet beetle larvae in your car can cause damage to your interior fabrics such as seat covers and foot mat if they’re made from leather.
Parking your car in a clean area away from dense vegetation and trees is the best way to avoid these little yellow bugs.
Dr. Thomas Orbert is a PhD in Entomology with extensive research experience in ectoparasites and microbials. He has also worked in the spaces of ecology conservation and has multiple years of experience in field research and scientific publishing.