Pest Library

Characteristics

The adult male Pennsylvania woods cockroach are 7/8 inch to 1 1/4 inches long while females are 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch long. Both genders are slender with brown color and tan wings. Adult males have full wings while females have short wings that are not used for flying. Although the males can fly, but they do not have the ability to maintain themselves on air for a long time.

Habitat

The Pennsylvania woods cockroach is native in eastern and central North America. These roaches live in hollow trees, under barks, woodpiles, dead trees, and decaying logs. When they are found indoors, these roaches can be in the gutters, garages, under cedar shake shingles, and under sidings.

These cockroaches can become troublesome during the months of May and June when groups of male cockroaches fly long distances to search for lights at night. Females can gain entry by crawling inside, but it would be unlikely for them to survive longer.

Behavior

This cockroach naturally lives outdoors. Although they can temporarily establish themselves indoors when they are mistakenly brought in with firewood, but they will not be able to breed or create a large infestation because they need consistent moist to breed and survive.

Unlike other roaches, the Pennsylvania woods cockroach is attracted to light. Males may be seen flying where lights are present, but they will mostly be sleeping during the day.

Food

This cockroach prefers to eat decaying organic matter when outdoors. When they are indoors, they may search for sweets and starchy materials.

Life Cycle

The Pennsylvania woods cockroach starts as an egg, a nymph, then becomes an adult like any other species of cockroach. The female cockroach will produce an egg capsule or ootheca that contains 32 eggs inside during the warm months. Unlike other cockroach species, the woods cockroach will drop her ootheca and place it behind a loose bark, fallen logs, or near its habitat. The eggs will hatch after 34 days. As nymphs, they will need 10 to 12 months before they become adults. An adult male may have at least two years to live while the female adult will just have several months.

Other Information and Tips

If you see these woods cockroaches inside a home structure, it is likely that you will just see one or maybe two. It will be unlikely for them to see their mate and reproduce or multiply indoors. Although it is not necessary to call an exterminator to get rid of these roaches since they will eventually die off after a couple of weeks, but it is still necessary to take precautions to avoid carrying them inside the home. It is common to have them carried into homes while they are under the bark of firewood. To avoid carrying them without knowing it, avoid stacking firewood inside the house. Move these logs away from the house to avoid having these roaches near your property.

Photo by Happy1892 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons / resized from original