{"id":2430,"date":"2012-02-06T16:03:44","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T21:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/?page_id=2430"},"modified":"2025-10-28T15:34:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T19:34:47","slug":"american-cockroach","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/","title":{"rendered":"American Cockroach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong>American Cockroach<\/strong> (<em>Periplaneta americana<\/em>), is the largest species of common cockroach and is often considered a pest.\u00a0 It sometimes goes by the name <strong>&#8220;waterbug.&#8221;<\/strong> None of the members of the <em>Periplaneta <\/em>genus are endemic to the Americas, despite the <em>&#8216;americana&#8217;<\/em> in its name.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<em>Periplaneta americana<\/em> was actually introduced to the United States from Africa as long ago as 1625 or earlier.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 16%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-2430 gallery-columns-6 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/05\/American-Cockroach-Maine-2019b.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/05\/American-Cockroach-Maine-2019b-e1648049622400-150x140.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"An American Cockroach\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-9763\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-9763'>\n\t\t\t\tAmerican Cockroach (female)\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/12\/AmericanCockroach.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"124\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/12\/AmericanCockroach-e1648132191183-150x124.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Photo of an American Cockroach\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-2309\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-2309'>\n\t\t\t\tAmerican Cockroach (female)\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/AmericanCockroaches-JFD.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/AmericanCockroaches-JFD-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Photo of a pair of American Cockroaches (a male and a female)\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-7164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/AmericanCockroaches-JFD-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/AmericanCockroaches-JFD-32x32.jpg 32w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-7164'>\n\t\t\t\tAmerican Cockroaches<br>(Male versus Female)\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/AmericanCockroach-Ootheca.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/AmericanCockroach-Ootheca-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"closeup image of an American cockroach&#039;s egg case, called an ootheca.\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-7162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/AmericanCockroach-Ootheca-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/AmericanCockroach-Ootheca-32x32.jpg 32w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-7162'>\n\t\t\t\tEgg Case (Ootheca) from an American Cockroach\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/10\/Australian-Cockroach-Periplaneta-australasiae-102825.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/10\/Australian-Cockroach-Periplaneta-australasiae-102825-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"an Australian Cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae) (Bath, ME; 10\/17\/2025) (a very rare visitor\/hitchhiker to Maine; prefers\/requires tropical and subtropical climates)\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-15913\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/10\/Australian-Cockroach-Periplaneta-australasiae-102825-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/10\/Australian-Cockroach-Periplaneta-australasiae-102825-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/10\/Australian-Cockroach-Periplaneta-australasiae-102825-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/10\/Australian-Cockroach-Periplaneta-australasiae-102825-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/10\/Australian-Cockroach-Periplaneta-australasiae-102825-32x32.jpg 32w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-15913'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/bugguide.net\/node\/view\/31621\" target=\"_open\"> Australian Cockroach<\/a> (<i>Periplaneta australasiae<\/i>) (Bath, ME; 10\/17\/2025) (a very rare visitor\/hitchhiker to Maine; prefers\/requires tropical and subtropical climates &#8212; warm, damp places outdoors or sometimes inside structures with those same conditions, e.g. greenhouses) (similar to the American cockroach; same genus)\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Additional Information<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ento.psu.edu\/extension\/factsheets\/american-cockroaches\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>American Cockroaches<\/strong><\/a> (Penn State)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pubs.ext.vt.edu\/444\/444-288\/444-288.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>American Cockroach<\/strong><\/a> (Virginia Cooperative Extension)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/content.ces.ncsu.edu\/australian-cockroach\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Australian Cockroach<\/strong><\/a> (very rare in Maine but very similar to the American cockroach; same genus) (NC State Extension)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana), is the largest species of common cockroach and is often considered a pest.\u00a0 It sometimes goes by the name &#8220;waterbug.&#8221; None of the members of the Periplaneta genus are endemic to the Americas, despite the &#8216;americana&#8217; in its name.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Periplaneta americana was actually introduced to the United States from Africa as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"parent":1561,"menu_order":102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2430","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>American Cockroach - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"American Cockroach - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana), is the largest species of common cockroach and is often considered a pest.\u00a0 It sometimes goes by the name &#8220;waterbug.&#8221; None of the members of the Periplaneta genus are endemic to the Americas, despite the &#8216;americana&#8217; in its name.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Periplaneta americana was actually introduced to the United States from Africa as [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-28T19:34:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/05\/American-Cockroach-Maine-2019b-e1648049622400-150x140.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/\",\"name\":\"American Cockroach - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-06T21:03:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-28T19:34:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Information \/ Fact Sheets\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Alphabetical List of Critters\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"American Cockroach\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/\",\"name\":\"Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. Research you can trust.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"American Cockroach - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"American Cockroach - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"The American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana), is the largest species of common cockroach and is often considered a pest.\u00a0 It sometimes goes by the name &#8220;waterbug.&#8221; None of the members of the Periplaneta genus are endemic to the Americas, despite the &#8216;americana&#8217; in its name.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Periplaneta americana was actually introduced to the United States from Africa as [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/","og_site_name":"Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension","article_modified_time":"2025-10-28T19:34:47+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/05\/American-Cockroach-Maine-2019b-e1648049622400-150x140.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/","name":"American Cockroach - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-02-06T21:03:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-28T19:34:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/american-cockroach\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Information \/ Fact Sheets","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Alphabetical List of Critters","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"American Cockroach"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/#website","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/","name":"Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension","description":"Information you can use. Research you can trust.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"charlesa","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/author\/carmstrong-2\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2430"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15916,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2430\/revisions\/15916"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}