Surinam Cockroach, Pycnoscelus surinamensis¹

D. R. Suiter and P. G. Koehler²

APPEARANCE

The Surinam cockroach is about 3/4 inch long and is shining brown to black in color. The front edge of the pronotum has a pale white band.

HABITAT

The Surinam cockroach is reported around the world in the humid tropics and in the U.S. from Texas, Lousiana and Florida. It is a burrowing insect which is capable of destroying various plants and is often brought into homes, shopping malls, restaurants in potted plants. Although this cockroach is not in the strict sense a household pest, it is nevertheless a source of much annoyance in related structures such as greenhouses.

BIOLOGY AND HABITS

The egg capsule is retained within the abdomen, and it gives birth to live young. The number of eggs in each capsule varied from 14 to 42, the average being 24. No males of this species are found in the U.S. and it reproduces parthenogenetically. In Europe and Indo-Malaysia it has two sexes.

The cockroach hides during the day under the soil in the benches, on the sides of the benches, under boards, barrels, in holes and crevices in the walls of buildings and wherever it was dark and possible for them to conceal themselves. At night, they come out in great numbers and gnaw the stems of plants.

CONTROL

Because the Surinam cockroach is found outdoors, applications of insecticides to foundation plantings, wood piles, mulch, and other infested locations are recommended. Treatments placed to intercept cockroaches are both environmentally- and entomologically-sound. Residual barrier sprays can substantially reduce Surinam cockroach populations around houses. Application of sprays or granules to potted plants will often control indoor infestations.

Footnotes

This document is ENY241, one of a series of the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date October 1991. Reviewed May 2003. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

D.R. Suiter, research assistant; Philip G. Koehler, professor, Entomology and Nematology Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.