280 days of Urbpandemonium #52

[urbpan]

It's understandable that some people panic when a large (over 1 cm) roach appears at their porch light. But if you live in New England, at a regular house that gets cold on a regular basis, chances are very good that you shouldn't worry. Cockroaches live all around the world, and only a handful of Tropical and Mediterranean species become household pests. This one is our largest native roach Parcoblatta pennsylvanica*, like its kin a harmless detritovore. Males like this one can fly and find themselves confused at or into houses at night--firewood brought inside can also bring these roaches inside.

But unlike our pest roaches, these ones are found by themselves. Roaches adapted to living inside buildings live in great numbers, which is why they become pests in the first place.

*"Sparing cockroach from Pennsylvania," I think. "Sparing" meaning appearing sparsely--one at at time, as opposed to the cockroaches that are more commonly known, through being pests.