How To Identify Different Roach Species

The fascinating cockroach, and how to identify different cockroach species

Cockroaches have been around for a long, long time - more than 280 million years, and there are way more than 4000 species worldwide. That is why roach extermination is a difficult science. Evans Pest Control technicians use state of the art methods, and a great deal of training to control this hardy insect. Roaches are great survivors, and they are tough.

• A cockroach can live without food for a month
• A roach can live without its head for a week
• Cockroaches can survive without air for 40 minutes
• Your average roach can run at 3 miles an hour
• German roaches can become adults in about 30 days
• The American roach is attracted to alcohol

Some of the more common species of roaches in Philadelphia include German cockroaches, American cockroaches, brown-banded cockroaches, and Oriental cockroaches.


GERMAN COCKROACHES (Blattella germanica) are one the most common species, especially here in Philly. They measure up to 17 mm long and are lite brown, with two dark stripes at the base of the prothorax. German cockroaches live about a year and produce more offspring than any other known species of cockroach.

AMERICAN COCKROACHES (Periplaneta americana) are the largest cockroaches commonly found in Philadelphia homes. Adults can grow up to two and a half inches. Your American cockroach is reddish-brown, with yellow bands around the shield behind the prothorax. American roaches have wings and can fly. American cockroaches live about two years and are commonly found in homes near food sources.

BROWN-BANDED COCKROACHES (Supella longipalpa) grow up to about half an inch. Females have dark-brown wings. The wings of male, brown-banded cockroaches are darker colored toward the base and lighten near the wing tip, and only the male roaches can fly. Brown-banded cockroaches have two light colored bands across their metathorax. This species jumps when scared, and they live less than a year on average.

ORIENTAL COCKROACHES (Blatta orientalis) have fat, shiny, black bodies. Females grow up to an inch and a half long, while males typically measure less than an inch long. Oriental cockroaches do not have wings that enable them to fly. Oriental roaches eat decaying organic matter and live about six months. Normally you do not see this species in homes.

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