• American Cockroaches are also known as a "water bug" or "palmetto bug".

• American Cockroach Appearance:

• The American roach is reddish-brown, about 1.5 inches long or longer, winged, but seldom fly.

• American Roach Diet:

• American Cockroaches prefer decaying organic matter, but being scavengers will eat anything. Sweets are attractive to the American roach. They also will feed on starchy items like book bindings, and the back of wall paper.

• Habits and Biology of American Cockroaches:

• Females produce many egg capsules, having 14-16 eggs hatching in 50-55 days into grayish-brown "nymphs". As the American cockroaches mature they become more reddish-brown in appearance. Adults and nymphs can be found in a variety of places. In the North, they are commonly found in steam heat tunnels or in large institutional buildings. They more commonly congregate in open spaces instead of small crack and crevices.When indoors, they can be located in dark, moist areas like basements and crawl spaces.Other likely areas indoors would be around bathtubs, floor drains, and sewers. Outside the American roach can be found in moist, shady areas like: yards, hollow trees, woodpiles, and mulch. At times they can be found under roof shingles or attics. Usually they will live outside, but will wander inside in search for food and water or during extremes in weather conditions.

Brown Banded Cockroach Appearance:

Brown Banded Roach Diet:

Habits and Biology of Brown Banded Cockroaches:

• The German cockroach is one of the most common roaches found in apartment houses, restaurants, and hotels. German cockroaches (eggs included), are "brought in", usually on man's belongings, luggage, boxes or packages. All it takes, is bringing in one egg capsule, and six months later you have an infestation.

   

   
  
  German Cockroach Appearance:
  

• Adults are 1/2 inch- 5/8 inch long, light to medium brown with 2 dark distinctive stripes behind the head. The young (nymphs) are wingless, smaller and much darker in color, with a light stripe on their backs.

• German Roach Diet:

• Will eat anything, will stay close to food and water source.

• Habits and Biology of German Cockroaches:

• Females produce one egg capsule every 3-4 weeks. Each capsule contains 25-45 eggs. The female will carry the egg capsule with her until it is ready to hatch. The young (nymphs) will be able to breed in as little as 36 days. Adult German roaches can live up to one year These roaches are mostly active at night .
• If they are seen during the day, it is usually because their hiding places are overcrowded due to a large population or there is a shortage of food and water supply.
• Any crack or crevice located near a source of food and/or water is prime harborage, and they spend about 75% of their time in such harborages.
• First instar nymphs require a crack of about 1/32" whereas, adults require a crack of about 3/16" in width.
• Infestations are generally found in kitchens and bathrooms, but can inhabit other areas if there is a heavy population or you have run them into each other with the repellent effect of insecticides.

• Oriental Cockroach Appearance:

• This cockroach is shiny black and is about 1.25 inches long. They have wings, but can't fly.
  The total length for the female is 1 ¼" and 1" for the male.
  The females have small nonfunctional wings while the males have wings that cover about ¾ of the abdomen, neither the female or male can fly. Adults are very dark brown or black in color.

• Oriental Roach Diet:

• Decayed organic matter in mulch piles and rubbish.
• The Oriental cockroach prefers starchy food, and builds up populations around garbage cans.
• Most of their water consumption is gotten through their food and the moisture around them.

• Habits and Biology of Oriental Cockroaches:

• Females produce an average of  8 egg capsules, containing 16 eggs in each, from spring to mid-summer. Unlike other urban cockroaches, the Oriental Roach produces only one generation per year where temperatures are cool in winter.
  The female will carry the egg capsule (irregularly shaped,black,3/8" long,and 1/4"wide), for around 30 hours and then drops or attaches it in a protected area, near a food supply.
  The eggs hatch in about 60 days under warm conditions.
  At least 75% of the eggs must hatch to open the capsule.
  The young become adults in 6-12 months. 
• This type of roach will have seasonal cycles in it's development.
  They peak to adults during the spring and early
  summer, dwindling in numbers by the late summer/early fall. Nymphs (young) are active from about March through much of the summer.
  During this period they molt seven to ten times, and are reddish-brown to black in color, except in the first stage when they are pale tan.
  The older brown Oriental cockroach nymphs are very difficult to distinguish from the American cockroach nymphs.
• In early spring, only adult Oriental cockroaches are found. By late spring, nymphs are abundant. As nymphal numbers increase, the adults die off and by August any adults are new ones. By fall, almost the entire population is adult.
• Inside they can be found in damp areas such as basements, crawl spaces, and kitchens, indoors and outside.
• They are usually found at or below ground level in yards, beneath leaves, in dumps, in the mulch of flower beds and in high moisture situations such as sewers, drains and dark, damp basements. They favor crawl spaces, spaces between the soil and building foundations, the undersides of stoops and sidewalks, landscaping mulches, water meters, basements and their floor drains, and other such moist places.
• These cockroaches frequently live in floor drains that drain directly outside; these drains are also used as entrances to homes.
  They tolerate lower temperature ranges than other roaches and may winter in rock walls or such protected sites.
• During times of drought there may be movement towards the inside of the home, but generally speaking they are found outdoors during the warmer months. They may also move inside if it is unseasonably cold.

• Smoky Brown Cockroach Appearance:

• This roach is very similar to the American roach, but is smaller in size and is dark brown-mahogany, black in color.
  Adults have well-developed wings that stretch to the tip of the abdomen.

• Smoky Brown Roach Diet:

• Normally they prefer plant material, but will eat almost anything when they come inside the home.
• They feed on plant material and may inhabit greenhouses.

• Woods Cockroach Appearance:

• Woods roaches are very similar in appearance to the American Roach; flat, oval body, long antennae, spiny legs, chestnut brown color.
• They are slightly smaller than the American Cockroach, about 3/4 to 1 1/4 inch long.

• The adults, especially the males, appear tan because of the color of their wings.

  Adults and large nymphs of the wood roach can be recognized by a pale, creamy white or transparent stripe on their outer edge.

• The pale edge extends onto the first 1/3 of the front wings of the adults.

• Woods Roach Diet:

• They prefer decaying organic matter

• Habits and Biology of Woods Cockroaches:

• The Woods roaches are attracted to light, much different than the other roaches.
• Females deposit their egg capsules outdoors under old logs, stumps and firewood.
• Females produce about 30 capsules containing up to 32 eggs each.
• The egg incubation period is about one month, with nymphs hatching in the summer and maturing the following spring (May or June).
• There is one generation per year and, in some cases, the life cycle takes two years.
• At dusk, males may begin taking short flights and are often seen in the headlights of the automobiles by persons driving through wooded areas.
• Woods cockroaches are active during the winter and can be found in firewood after pulling the bark away.
• These cockroaches are usually found in groups.
• Compared to domestic roaches, woods cockroaches are less likely to flee when approached and do not survive indoors.
• Over wintering occurs outdoors as a partially grown nymph.
• When disturbed, nymphs are active even in freezing weather.
• Adults are present May through early October.
• Their normal habitat is moist woodland areas but they frequently become a household nuisance because they wander into or are carried into houses, with firewood, etc.
• Wood cockroaches are active both during the day and at night and they are less likely to scamper out of sight when approached.
• They are less likely to congregate in a particular location, but will wander through the house.
• Wood cockroaches do not thrive and reproduce in homes because they require the consistently moist environment of their natural habitats such as under wood piles or loose bark and in decaying logs.
• Indoors, their presence is strictly a temporary annoyance.
• They usually die within a few days in the house due to insufficient moisture.
• If Woods cockroaches are found anywhere inside the home, usually they are solitary.
• The males are attracted to light and will often make short, erratic flights in the early evening hours.
• Woods cockroaches do not reproduce or multiply inside.