PERIPLANETA AMERICANA - American Cockroach
Size: Up to 2 inches long.
Color: Reddish brown.

The American cockroach is the largest cockroach that infests buildings in the United States. This insect may be recognized by a yellow "figure-8" pattern on the shield at the front of its body. In Florida, the American cockroach is called the "palmetto bug," and it has the nickname "water bug" throughout the United States.

Behavior
Like all cockroaches, it is omnivorous and will eat virtually anything people will and many things we won't.

Habitat
This cockroach thrives in warm, damp environments, such as sewers, steam tunnels, basements, crawl spaces, and boiler rooms. In southern states, it will also be found living and breeding outdoors.

Tips for Control
The key to control is to find and treat these sources directly. In many cases, the services of a professional company, such as Superior Pest Elimation, are required to achieve long-term relief. In southern states where this cockroach lives outdoors, successful control involves treating the attic, crawl space, and exterior cracks in the home and finding and treating likely cockroach harborages over the entire property.

- Reddish wings completely cover abdomen; yellow band around pronotum edge.
- Life cycle - 450 days
- Females produce about 60 egg capsules, each with 12 - 16 eggs.
- Prefers basements, sewers.

- Two light, yellow-brown bands across body.
- Life cycle - 161 days
- Females produce 10-14 egg capsules, each with 10 - 18 eggs.
- Prefers bedrooms, furniture.

- Usually black with wings that do not cover the abdomen.
- Life cycle - 500 days
- Females produce 8 egg capsules, each with 14 - 16 eggs.
- Prefers damp basements, sewers.

- Trim; chestnut brown color; thorax edged in white.
- Life cycle - 500 days.
- Females produce about 30 egg capsules, each with 24-32 eggs.
- Prefers trees, wood piles.

- Reddish with yellow "halo" around pronotum edge; yellow streaks on outer front wing
- Life cycle - 400 days
- Females produce about 20-30 egg capsules, each with 16-24 eggs.
- Prefers outdoors, greenhouses.

- Two longitudinal black streaks on pronotum.
- Life cycle - 75 days.
- Females produce 4-8 egg capsules, each with 30 - 40 eggs.
- Prefers kitchens, bathrooms.

- Uniformly dark brown with no markings on pronotum.
- Life cycle - 365 days
- Females produce 17 egg capsules, each with 22 - 26 eggs.
- Prefers trees, wood piles, attics.

- Very similar to the American cockroach, however, wings barely cover abdomen..
- Life cycle - 420 days.
- Females produce about 13 egg capsules, each with 20-30 eggs.
- Prefers outdoor vegetation.