Pennsylvania wood cockroach
species of insect
The Pennsylvania wood cockroach (Parcoblatta pennsylvanica) or Pennsylvanian cockroach is a common species of cockroach in eastern and central North America.
Description
Males are dark brown; the sides of the thorax and the front half of the wings are margined with yellow. Adult males are fully winged, while females have conspicuous wing pads (actually short wings like that of the female oriental cockroach), which are functionless. Wings of the male are longer than its body, while wing pads of the female cover only one-third to two-thirds of the abdomen. The males fly swiftly but do not have the ability to sustain themselves in the air for long periods.
Habitat and ecology
The species occurs in open, timbered areas with little ground cover. According to entomologist Fred A. Lawson, it is "often seen on tree trunks and lower branches of oaks and elms after dark." Nymphs and adults are also found outdoors beneath loose bark in woodpiles, stumps, and hollow trees. Brought indoors on infested firewood, they wander about the house without congregating in any particular room. They can be especially troublesome during the mating season, which is during May and June. Male wood cockroaches frequently travel in large numbers and fly considerable distances.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7164309. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pennsylvania wood cockroach” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.