Roaches

German Cockroach

The German cockroach is one of the smaller house roaches. It is muddy brown in color and has two parallel strips on the head shield. Adults measure 5/8 of an inch long. The German cockroach is the most common roach infesting homes and apartment buildings in Kansas.

American Cockroach

The American cockroach is the largest of common roaches. Adults measure from 1 . to 2 inches long and are light reddish-brown in color. Both sexes have fully developed wings and fly fairly readily. This large, native roach is a common pest in restaurants, grocery stores and hotels.

Oriental Cockroach

The oriental cockroach is black or reddish brown in all stages and is about 5/8 inch long. It’s soiling of food and roachy odor make it one of the most undesirable house pests. It does some injury to grain and milk products. In homes, it is most often found in basements.

Smokey Brown Roach

Brown cockroach is a large species of cockroach, winged, and growing to a length of 1 1/4″-1 3/8″. It is brown in color. It is closely related to the American cockroach however is easily distinguishable from it. It has a uniformly dark brown mahogany color. Its thorax is dark and shiny, unlike the light rimmed pattern of the American cockroach. It does well in moist conditions and it seems to be most commonly concentrated in moist concealed areas. It can feed off a wide array of organic (including decaying) matter like most cockroaches, it is a scavenger. It tends to lose more moisture than its relatives and requires water every 2-3 days. It may come indoors to look for food, and even to live, however, in warm weather it may move outdoors and enter buildings looking for food.

Pennsylvania Wood Roach

The wood roach can be found beneath the bark on rotting logs and stumps and is rarely found in homes. Adults measure 1 to 1 . inches long. Their color is dark brownish-black with a light boarder on the front margins of the wings and around the pronotal shield. Both sexes have fully developed wings and fly readily. It is not a household pest in Kansas.