The Florida woods cockroach is a large cockroach species which typically grows to a length of 30–40 mm (1.2–1.6 in). When alarmed, adults can eject an extremely foul-smelling directional spray up to 1 m, which inspired several of its other common names: Florida skunk roach, Florida stinkroach, skunk cockroach, skunk roach, stinking cockroach, and stinkroach. Two other naming variations include Florida cockroach and Florida woods roach.
The Florida woods cockroach is slower moving than many other cockroach species. It prefers damp locations with abundant moisture, and does well in warm, damp climates. It is found in its native habitats, such as the U.S. state of Florida and the West Indies. The species wanders indoors at times, especially into damp locations, such as bathrooms; however, it prefers the outdoors and is not considered a major pest in the home. It is cold intolerant and requires a warm, subtropical or tropical climate. It can be found in sheltered outdoor locations, such as under leaf litter, in tree holes, and under lumber and boards, and other crevices, as well as in bushes and wooded areas. Often it can be seen on palmetto trees, which gave it one of its early popular names, the palmetto bug. It is not to be confused for the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), another common Florida insect, that is sometimes also referred to as a palmetto bug.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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starts withThe Florida wood cockroach is a dark to blackish brown, or a reddish brown after recent molting. Tegmina (fore wings) are very short, extending just past the mesonotum (the dorsal plate just behind the pronotum), and hind wings are absent.
Adults typically range from 30–40 mm (1.2–1.6 in). The winning specimen in a Florida cockroach size contest was a Florida wood cockroach which measured 62 mm (2.429 in). The Florida woods cockroach looks remarkably similar to the female oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis), and the two could be mistaken for each other by the casual observer.
The species' dark brown ootheca (egg case) is 14–16 mm (0.55–0.63 in) long, contains 21-23 eggs, and has indentations that show where the eggs are located.
Natural habitats of the species include holes in dead trees, stumps, and woodpiles, cavities beneath bark, and sometimes leaf litter. It occasionally enters buildings.It typically only becomes established in non habitable areas of buildings. Not uncommonly, palmetto bugs become established inside attics, where they commonly leave behind their distinctively large droppings along with occasional body parts from dead specimens.
The species is reported in the West Indies and in a limited southeastern region of United States, consisting of the state of Florida, and coastal regions of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, south and southeast Texas, and southeast North Carolina. It is considered adventive, but not established, in the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.
Males can mate about 18 days after maturation, and females produce oothecae about every 8 days, beginning about 55 days after maturation. The oothecae are buried in soil or decaying logs, and hatch in 50 days at 30–36 °C (86–97 °F). Parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) can occur, but the nymphal clones do not develop to adulthood.
