COCKROACHES AND TERMITES

American Cockroach, Periplaneta americana

Order: Blattodea (Cockroaches and Termites)

Size: Up to 2"

Habitat: Woodlands of subtropical habitats, urban areas, buildings, sewers

Range: Worldwide

Although an important insect in the subtropical ecosystems where it lives wild, the American Cockroach is best known as a creepy pest that inhabits nooks and crevices of homes and other buildings throughout North America. The body is oval shaped and flattened, with overlapping wings that cover the entire back (wings are larger in males than in females). The head is small and usually obscured by the large pronotus (front of the thorax), and the antennae are thin and longer than the body. Two appendages at the rear (cerci) are well developed. The color is reddish brown overall, with a paler band across the pronotum. Cockroaches are active mostly during the night, crawling and sometimes flying in search of almost any food source. In the wild they seek out hidden places under rocks and logs; in buildings their flattened shape allows them to squeeze into the thinnest spaces between wood panels and cement walls.