Asian cockroach
The Asian cockroach is a small light brown cockroach with two dark stripes behind its head. It looks almost exactly like the German cockroach. But unlike its cousin, it likes to live outdoors and it is a really good flyer.
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Fun facts
Scientists only found out it was its own kind in 1981, after studying cockroaches from the Japanese island of Okinawa.
It is attracted to light, so in the evening it may fly toward bright windows.
Where it likes to live, there can be up to 250,000 of them on a piece of land the size of a football field.
When the weather turns cool in autumn, their number drops quickly.
It probably came to Florida with goods shipped from Japan.
Most asked questions about Asian cockroach
?How can I tell an Asian cockroach from a German cockroach?
They look almost the same. The Asian cockroach flies well, likes light and lives mostly outdoors.
?Is the Asian cockroach dangerous?
No. It does not bite and it is not known to spread diseases.
?How big is an Asian cockroach?
About 1.3 to 1.6 centimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Blattella asahinai
- Named by
- Mizukubo, 1981
- Group
- Cockroaches and termites
- Family
- Ectobiidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Blattodea > Ectobiidae
- Lives on
- Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Blattella asahinai (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by unknown author. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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