100 More Species #83: Wood roach

[urbpan]

Wood roach Parcoblatta sp.

Unless you live in tropical Asia or Africa, the chances are that every cockroach you've seen has been an alien. The dozen or so tropical Old World species that have become "structural pests" are ubiquitous around the world, living wherever the buildings get warm and humid enough. The other 3500 species suffer from the comparison.

As it turns out there are about a dozen species of wood roach in the northeast of North America, which may--as this male did--visit porch lights at night. This was the first native roach I've ever encountered, though I've recently become acquainted with the non-pest Ectobius roaches, and initially mistook them for wood roaches.

Wood roaches are relatively large--this individual is about an inch long--but are entirely harmless. They hang out under the bark of dead logs and such places, but will quickly die of dehydration if accidentally brought indoors. The adults mate in late spring, and the resulting nymphs overwinter.

(Weird photo size due to recovering photo from Bugguide.net)

Comments

[cdozo.livejournal.com]

I am unlucky enough to have a healthy indoor population of what people here call "tree roaches." A few come in to visit every summer, but these guys settled in while I was at Kerrville and there are still about ten of them in the house. On the plus side, they are fun to hunt.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Never heard that common name before, but it looks to me like that's a regionalism for what I call the American cockroach, and others call palmetto bugs or water bugs.

[cdozo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my mom called them "palmetto bugs." They don't look much like what I would call a cockroach, but they probabl are. I'm just used to the German cockroaches in NYC. My roaches are big and brown and, when they are scared, they make a smell that smells like old pee.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

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