Australian wood cockroach

Panesthia australis · Order: Blattodea · Family: Blaberidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Australian wood cockroach
Photo: Toby Hudson, CC BY-SA

They live in family groups inside rotting wood, building burrows whose walls are made of frass.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Adults are about 3.4 cm long and black; nymphs range from 7 to 35 mm, averaging 17 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Adults measure roughly 3.4 cm, and nymphs vary between 7 mm and 35 mm, averaging about 17 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They live in family groups inside rotting wood.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Their burrows are lined with frass, the waste material they produce.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Australian wood cockroach photo 3
Photo: Max Campbell, CC BY

Same family (Blaberidae)

Surinam CockroachSurinam CockroachPycnoscelus surinamensisCan spread germs or diseaseBanana CockroachBanana CockroachPanchlora niveaCape Mountain CockroachCape Mountain CockroachAptera fuscaGiant Cave CockroachGiant Cave CockroachBlaberus giganteusMadagascar Hissing CockroachMadagascar Hissing CockroachGromphadorhina portentosaDubia CockroachDubia CockroachBlaptica dubiaCan irritate skin

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panesthia_australis

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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