Brown Cockroach

Description: Brown cockroaches are 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches long when mature, red-brown and characterized by fully developed wings that completely cover their abdomens. The pronotum has to fainty dirty-yellow band around its edge. Brown cockroaches look similar to American cockroaches except that the last segment on the two cerci is triangular and less than twice as long as it is wide. The last segment on the American cockroach cerci is much longer and narrower.

Nymphs are 1/4 inch long when they emerge from the egg capsule and initially are brown to dark brown in color. As they develop they become more red-brown and pale markings appear on their thoraxes The purse-shaped egg capsule ootheca is almost black in color, 1/2 inch long and typically has 12 to 14 eggs per side.

Biology: During her lifetime, the female brown cockroach produces up to 32 egg capsules each contain 21 to 28 eggs. Using secretions from her mouth, the female glues the capsules near the ceiling usually on plaster or concrete. The capsule is covered with materials from the surrounding area. Nymphs emerge in about 35 days and develop over an average of 182 days before becoming adults which live about 244 days.

Habits: This cockroach has not been able to become successfully established within northern states but is common ins southern states as far west as Texas. It is not a common pest in houses but can be abundant in sewers and commercial facilities, e.g., groceries, prisons, restaurants, hospitals and office and apartment buildings. It prefers to inhabit warm, damp locations, steam tunnels and boiler rooms. In the summer, large numbers accumulate in outdoor locations and they migrate into surrounding structures.

Control: Cockroaches often are brought into and moved between facilities via equipment and storage boxes. Thus, potentially infested products which are brought into structures should be closely inspected. Many types of cardboard and plastic sticky traps are available to help pinpoint sources of cockroach infestation and to monitor areas about which occupants have complained but infestations can not be visually detected. Sticky traps are not intended for control but, rather to guide and evaluate control efforts as part of the inspection process. Visual inspections can be conducted using a flashlight and aerosol pyrethrin to flush cockroaches from their harborages.