To think this is a cockroach?

bessyet · 2025-02-22T12:42:25+00:00

We recently moved into a lovely (well I thought it was lovely) rented house while we wait for a property to come on the market for sale in this area. The whole house is newly renovated but the bathroom has this odd musky smell! This morning I found this crawling over the bathroom sink. Does this look like a baby cockroach? 😫

KimP85 · 22/02/2025 12:44

It looks like a black clock beetle to me.

Totallymessed · 22/02/2025 12:50

I think it might be a springtail. Not an expert though! I do have a lot of experience of cockroaches however (a year living in the tropics in an apartment plagued by the bloody things), and I'm pretty certain it's not a cockroach.

oakleaffy · 22/02/2025 12:57

It’s legs and antennae look too short for a roach
🪳
I did a paper round in Richmond as a kid and some of the Art Deco flats had them in the hallways- Chestnut brown scuttling things- quite horrid!

Yours looks too chunky and more like a long black beetle one finds outside?

GanderingGoose · 22/02/2025 13:01

It looks like a silverfish. They like, dark and damp/moist places so will be attracted to your bathroom instead of being the cause of the musty smell. They are nocturnal so that's why you found one this morning. The internal bathroom in our basement flat at our uni halls of residents was the home to many of these and they were completely harmless and no real issue at all. Of all the creepy crawlies around, these have been the least troublesome. Easier said than done in a rental, but sort out the mustiness and damp and they should slowly disappear.

MargaretThursday · 22/02/2025 13:04

Very unlikely at this time of year anyway. They don't really like the cold. <knows someone who keeps cockroaches>

thesoundofwildgeese · 22/02/2025 13:10

GanderingGoose · 22/02/2025 13:01

It looks like a silverfish. They like, dark and damp/moist places so will be attracted to your bathroom instead of being the cause of the musty smell. They are nocturnal so that's why you found one this morning. The internal bathroom in our basement flat at our uni halls of residents was the home to many of these and they were completely harmless and no real issue at all. Of all the creepy crawlies around, these have been the least troublesome. Easier said than done in a rental, but sort out the mustiness and damp and they should slowly disappear.

Edited

I don't think it is a silverfish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

Thelnebriati · 22/02/2025 13:15

Its not a silverfish, I don't think its a roach either, it looks like a beetle. Roaches have two long, fine antennae that are pointing forwards.

https://vergo.uk/pest-facts/types-of-cockroaches/

LadeedahYadaYada · 22/02/2025 13:27

GanderingGoose · 22/02/2025 13:01

It looks like a silverfish. They like, dark and damp/moist places so will be attracted to your bathroom instead of being the cause of the musty smell. They are nocturnal so that's why you found one this morning. The internal bathroom in our basement flat at our uni halls of residents was the home to many of these and they were completely harmless and no real issue at all. Of all the creepy crawlies around, these have been the least troublesome. Easier said than done in a rental, but sort out the mustiness and damp and they should slowly disappear.

Edited

it's not a silverfish - they have long tentacles and longer bodies (I literally squashed on this morning)

SAH07 · 22/02/2025 13:29

Definitely not a cockroach, seen plenty of them in my job

Original poster

bessyet · 22/02/2025 14:12

Whew! Thank you for putting my mind at ease. Was ready to pack up and move again 😅

OP posts:

boulevardofbrokendreamss · 22/02/2025 14:49

Not a roach, not a silverfish. Looks like an earwig

iamnotalemon · 22/02/2025 17:03

It's not a cockroach but you still have a big bug in your house, so burn it down 🤣

Totallymessed · 22/02/2025 18:05

OP, this is a springtail.