Urushi Cockroach

Periplaneta japanna · Order: Blattodea · Family: Blattidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Urushi Cockroach
Photo: Takaaki Hattori, CC BY

These cockroaches are dark black in both nymph and adult stages. They live in subtropical fields in southern Japan.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Both young and mature individuals are dark black.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They are field-dwelling insects in subtropical areas.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

They are endemic to southern Japan.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Urushi Cockroach photo 3
Photo: Takaaki Hattori, CC BY
Urushi Cockroach photo 4
Photo: Takaaki Hattori, CC BY
Urushi Cockroach photo 5
Photo: Takaaki Hattori, CC BY

Same family (Blattidae)

American CockroachAmerican CockroachPeriplaneta americanaCan spread germs or diseaseOriental CockroachOriental CockroachBlatta orientalisCan spread germs or diseaseSmokybrown CockroachSmokybrown CockroachPeriplaneta fuliginosaNuisance, not dangerousAustralian CockroachAustralian CockroachPeriplaneta australasiaeNuisance, not dangerousTurkestan CockroachTurkestan CockroachPeriplaneta lateralisFlorida Woods CockroachFlorida Woods CockroachEurycotis floridana

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplaneta_japanna

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.