Cockroaches

The following gallery of cockroaches will help you determine what type of cockroach pest problem you might be encountering. All of the pictures show here are from James Castner from the University of Florida.

Picture	Name	Description
	American	Adult is 1-1/2" long. Reddish-brown with light markings behind the head. It is commonly found in sewers and basements.
	Australian	Adult is about 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" long. Reddish-brown to dark-brown with a characteristic marking behind the head. On the front edge of the base of the forewing is a light-yellow band. Nymphs have light-yellow spots on top of the abdomen. This cockroach is abundant outdoors and in greenhouses, where it can damage plants. It enters homes and is called a palmetto bug.
	Brown	Almost identical to the American cockroach in appearance and is about 1-1/4" long as an adult. It is reddish-brown. It is frequently found outdoors. It readily enters houses and is often called a palmetto bug.
	Brown-banded	Adult is about 5/8" long. It is dark brown, and the wings range from reddish-brown to brown. There are two pale-brown bands on the wings. It prefers to live in bedrooms, furniture and closets, particularly on high shelves.
	Cuban	Adult is about 3/4" long. Males and females are pale-green, whereas the nymphs are dark-brown. It is an outdoors, tropical species that usually is not found north of Florida. Adults are attracted to light and are adept fliers.
	Florida-Woods	Adult is 1-1/2" to 1-3/4" long and is often called the stinking cockroach because it produces a foul-smelling fluid to protect it from predation. It is dark-reddish-brown to black. The nymphs have broad yellow bands on the top of the thorax. This cockroach is commonly found in leaf mulch, wood piles and under rotting logs. It is often called a palmetto bug.
	German	This is the most important species of cockroach in the United States. Adult is about 1/2" to 5/8" long. Nymphs and adults of both sexes have two dark stripes behind the head. It prefers to live in kitchens and bathrooms of homes and apartments, restaurants, supermarkets and hospitals. The Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, is identical to the German cockroach in appearance and lives outdoors in lawns and leaf litter.
	Oriental	Adult is about 1" long. It is shiny black and has no distinctive markings. The male has wings that cover only about three-fourths of the abdomen; the female has only wing pads or lobes. This cockroach is not commonly found in Florida. It is usually found in damp basements, sewers and crawl spaces beneath houses.
	Smoky-brown	Adult is about 1-1/4" long. It is mahogany brown to black with no patterns behind the head. This cockroach is abundant outdoors and is found in tree holes, wood piles and attics of houses in Florida. It readily enters homes and is called a palmetto bug.
	Surinam	Adult is about 3/4" to 1" long. It is shiny-brown to black with golden markings on the abdomen. It is a burrowing species that lives outdoors and often infests potted plants. When plants are brought inside, the cockroach infests the premises.

Material on this page comes from: P.G. Koehler, Professor; J.L. Castner, Scientific Photographer; Department of Entomology and Nematology, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.