The word cockroach is stemmed from the Spanish cucaracha. The cockroach is recognizable by a flattened oval body, long thin antennae, and a shining black or brown leathery integument. The head is directed downward, and the mouthparts are aimed backward instead of forward or downward as is the case for almost all other insects. The male often has two pairs of wings, but the female, who in some species, is wingless or appears with vestigial wings. The female creates eggs in egg cases (called oothecae). These are on occasion held protruding from her body or could be stuck in protected areas. After the female produces an egg case, the soft, white nymphs emerge. As their exoskeleton solidifies, it turns brown in appearance. The structure and big size (some species have a wingspread of higher than 12 cm [4.7 inches]) of cockroaches have made them objects of objective in the biological laboratory.

The cockroach takes a warm, humid, dark living environment and is generally found in tropical or other mild areas. Just a small number of species have become pests. The insect harms more material than it digests and has a yucky odour. The food preference of the roach, which should be both plant and animal product, can be from food, paper, clothing, and books to dead insects, especially bedbugs. Insecticides should be used in roach removal.

The American cockroach (species Periplaneta americana) is 30 to 50 mm long (up to about 2 inches), reddish brown, and inhabits in an outdoor habitat or in dark, heated indoor spaces (e.g., basements and furnace rooms). In adult life, a period of about 1.5 years, the female creates 50 or more oothecae, each holding usually 16 eggs that hatch after 45 days. Nymphal life lasts from 11 to 14 months. The American cockroach, a native of tropical and subtropical America, possesses well-developed wings. However, the majority of species tend not to be great flyers.

The German cockroach (Blattella germanica), a common pest in households and occasionally erroneously called a waterbug, is light brown with two dark stripes on the prothoracic region. The female generates the ootheca three days from mating and carries it for generally around 20 days. Because it is small (about 12 mm [less than 0.5 inch] long), this cockroach often is carried into residences in grocery bags and boxes; it has been taken through the world by ship. Three or more generations could breed yearly. This cockroach, abundant in the water pipes of the Croton Aqueduct in New York City, is now called the Croton bug.

The brown-banded cockroach (Supella supellectilium) resembles the German cockroach but is a bit smaller. The male has completely developed wings and is paler in colour than the female, whose wings are short and nonfunctional. Both sexes have two light-coloured bands along the back. The adult life span is roughly 200 days, and there could be two generations annually. Eggs are be deposited in clothes, wood molding, or cracks in the floor. With the advent of heated buildings this cockroach became more common in cooler locations.

The Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) is thought to be one of the filthiest of household pests. It is oval, shiny black or dark brown, 25 to 30 mm (1 to 1.2 inches) long, with a life cycle resembling that of the American cockroach. The male has short, fully developed wings, and the female has vestigial wings. This cockroach has been spread by vehicles of commerce from its Asiatic origins to every temperate regions.

Wood roaches are non-domestic pests. Parcoblatta pennsylvanica, the common wood cockroach, can be found below logs and stones in northern latitudes. The male and female are so varied in appearance that they were initially believed to be different species. The male, 15 to 25 mm (0.6 to 1 inch) long, possesses wings that expand beyond the abdomen; the female is smaller and possesses much shorter wings. Cryptocercus punctulatus eats wood with the help of particular protozoans in its digestive tract.

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