Bug FAQBrown-hooded Cockroach
Cryptocercus punctulatus · Order: Blattodea · Family: Cryptocercidae
Also called: brown wingless cockroach, woodeating cockroach
The brown-hooded cockroach (Cryptocercus punctulatus) is a wingless, brown to black insect about 23 to 30 mm long that lives its whole life inside moist dead logs. It feeds on the wood of those logs, aided by unique gut flagellates that break down cellulose, and it takes 5 to 6 years to reach reproductive maturity, producing about 73 eggs in a single breeding episode. The species is native to the eastern United States, especially the Appalachian region of western Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Both males and females lack wings and are brown to black in color.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure between 23 and 30 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives its entire life inside moist dead logs, which it also consumes. These logs can be from either deciduous or coniferous trees.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It is a wood-eating (xylophagous) cockroach that consumes the dead logs it inhabits. Its gut houses obligate flagellates that digest the cellulose in the wood.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
It requires five to six years to reach reproductive maturity. Pairs reproduce once, laying a mean of 73 eggs distributed among up to four oothecae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Cryptocercus punctulatus is found in North America, specifically the eastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 14 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Where does this cockroach live?
It lives inside moist dead logs of deciduous or coniferous trees in the eastern United States, especially the Appalachians of Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Source: Wikipedia
What does the brown-hooded cockroach eat?
It feeds on the wood of the dead logs it inhabits, using gut flagellates to digest cellulose.
Source: Wikipedia
How long does it take to mature and reproduce?
It takes five to six years to become sexually mature and reproduces once, laying about 73 eggs in up to four oothecae.
Source: Wikipedia
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocercus_punctulatus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.