The American cockroach? is the largest of the domestic roaches. 
Adult females may be 114 to 2 inches long, including the wings. The 
color may vary from reddish brown to dark brown. 
The oriental cockroach? is known in some localities as the black 
beetle or shad roach. It is black or dark brown, more sluggish than 
the other kinds found in buildings, and prefers very damp places. 
Adult females may be 1 to 114 inches long, and have only traces of 
The oriental cockroach: A, Adult female; B, adult male; C, side view of female; 
D, half-grown roach. Enlarged one-half. 
wings. Adult males are a little smaller and have short wings that 
do not reach the end of the body. 
The German cockroach* is the most common and is sometimes 
called the croton bug. Adult females are never more than five-eighths 
of an inch long. The adults are light brown, and are marked on the 
back between the head and the wings with two longitudinal black 
stripes. The wings are of a uniform light-brown color. The young 
are often dark-colored, sometimes almost black, and have two black 
stripes on the fore part of the body. 
* Periplaneta americana (1L.). 
* Blatta orientalis L. 
* Blattella germanica (L.) 
