The Australian cockroach (''Periplaneta australasiae'') is a common species of tropical

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a Paraphyly, paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are we ...

, with a length of . It is brown overall, with the tegmina having a conspicuous lateral pale stripe or margin, and the pronotum (head shield) with a sharply contrasting pale or yellow margin. It is very similar in appearance to the

American cockroach The american cockroach (''Periplaneta americana'') is the largest species of common cockroach, and often considered a pest. In certain regions of the U.S. it is colloquially known as the waterbug, though it is not a true waterbug since it is not ...

and may be easily mistaken for it. It is, however, slightly smaller than the American cockroach, and has a yellow margin on the

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

and yellow streaks at its sides near the wing base.

Distribution

Despite its name, the Australian cockroach is a

cosmopolitan species In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. Such a taxon, usually a species, is said to exhibit cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitism. The extr ...

, and an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

in Australia. ''P. australasiae'' probably originated in Africa. It is very common in the southern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

climates, and can be found in many locations throughout the world due to its travels by

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

and

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

between locations. Periplaneta australasiae side view

Habitat

It prefers warmer climates and is not cold-tolerant, but it may be able to survive indoors in colder climates. It does well in moist conditions, but also can tolerate dry conditions as long as water is available. It often lives around the perimeter of buildings. It appears to prefer eating plants more than its relatives do, but can feed on a wide array of organic (including decaying) matter. Like most cockroaches, it is a scavenger. It may come indoors to look for food and even to live, but in warm weather, it may move outdoors and enter buildings looking for food. This species can be found in nature in tropical parts of Australia; it has also been found along the east coast of Australia, from Cape York to the Victorian border.

References

External links

Black and white photographs
of top view of ''P. australasiae'' male and female specimens, from ''Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections''.
Drawings
of body parts of a male ''P. australasiae''; plate VII, figures 17-19 show detail of pronotum, end of abdomen with cerci, and enlarged view of the genital process. From a 1917 article by

Morgan Hebard Morgan Hebard (February 23, 1887 – December 28, 1946) was an American entomologist who specialized in orthoptera, and assembled a collection of over 250,000 specimens. Early life and education Morgan Hebard was born on February 23, 1887, in Cl ...

, with a key to the figures on pages 280-281. Cockroaches Cosmopolitan arthropods Insects described in 1775 {{Cockroach-stub