Bug FAQBrown Cockroach
Periplaneta brunnea · Order: Blattodea · Family: Blattidae
Also called: southern brown cockroach
The brown cockroach is a reddish-brown, medium-large roach with fully developed wings and thick triangular cerci. It lives mainly indoors, especially in cooler climates where it cannot survive outside, and is considered a household pest.
How to recognize it
It is reddish-brown with fully developed wings and has darker, thicker, wide, triangular cerci. Cockroaches have a broad, flattened body, long antennae and a shield-shaped pronotum behind the head. Unlike beetles, adult cockroaches have membranous wings and lack hardened forewings.
Size
Adults can grow up to about 4 cm long.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
They are considered a household pest and can persist indoors, especially in cooler regions. Cockroaches rank among the most important household pests.
How to get rid of it
Good sanitation and exclusion are key; pesticides alone rarely solve the problem. Insecticide gels and bait stations work well when food and water sources are removed.
Source: UC IPM
Where it lives
They prefer indoor areas and are often found lingering around homes. In cooler climates they can survive only indoors.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Brown cockroaches are omnivores and emit an unpleasant smell when threatened or touched.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females produce an ootheca 1.2 to 1.6 cm long that holds about 24 eggs on average. This egg case contains fewer eggs than that of the American cockroach, which averages about 28.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They are probably originally native to Africa.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
They look similar to the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana). People sometimes mistake cockroaches for beetles, but cockroaches have membranous wings unlike beetles' hardened forewings. Termites are also related to cockroaches within the Dictyoptera order.
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 7 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Alabama, Texas, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, California.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: introduced in North America; introduced in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I control brown cockroaches?
Keep the home clean, seal entry points, and use insecticide gels or bait stations after removing food and water sources.
Source: UC IPM
What do brown cockroaches look like?
They are reddish-brown, have fully developed wings, and possess thick, wide, triangular cerci.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Blattidae)
American CockroachPeriplaneta americanaCan spread germs or disease
Oriental CockroachBlatta orientalisCan spread germs or disease
Smokybrown CockroachPeriplaneta fuliginosaNuisance, not dangerous
Australian CockroachPeriplaneta australasiaeNuisance, not dangerous
Turkestan CockroachBlatta lateralisNuisance, not dangerous
Florida Woods CockroachEurycotis floridanaSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_cockroach
- UC IPM: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7467.html
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.