Oriental Cockroach
Common Name
Scientific Name
Oriental Cockroach
Blatta orientalis
Identification:
Adult Oriental cockroaches are about one inch in length. Both male and female adults are very dark brown, nearly black; their bodies usually have a somewhat greasy sheen. Females have small, functionless, rudimentary wing pads and broader, heavier bodies. Males have wings that cover only about three-quarters of their abdomen. Males are apparently unable to fly. Nymphs are not much different from the adults, just smaller and no wings (if males) until they are full grown adults.
Biology:
The life cycle of the Oriental cockroach is very similar to those of different species of cockroaches. It begins when the female roach produces egg cases and she may carry them, much like the German cockroach, but only for about 30 hours, rather than waiting for the embryo to be produced.
The egg cases are then generally glued to a surface in a hidden location, usually a warm sheltered spot where food will be available for emerging nymphs. Egg cases are 3/8 inch long, brown, and purse shaped. A full compliment of 16 eggs can be laid in the egg capsule, which consists of two rows of eight eggs each. Immature cockroaches emerge from egg cases in 6 to 8 weeks and require 6 to 12 months to mature. Adult cockroaches can live up to one year, during which females produce an average of 150 young.
Habits:
The habitat the Oriental cockroach prefers to live in, is dark, cool, and damp. They are found indoors and outdoors, outside they can be found in many places, including abandoned cisterns and water valve pits, in yards, beneath leaves, in bark mulch around shrubs, flowers, and foundations, in dumps, stone walls, and in garbage and trash dumps and trash chutes. Indoors they can be seen under porches, sewers, drains, crawl spaces, dark, damp basements, and floor drains. This type of roach is very sluggish and slow they are seldom found in walls, floor boards, or in higher places such as cupboards or cabinets.
