Photo: Syrio, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kansas City Pest Identification
Blatta orientalisOriental Cockroach Identification
The shiny black roach that shows up in damp basements, crawlspaces, and around outdoor drains. It tolerates cold better than other roaches and is the one you find in the garage in March.
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How to Identify It
Glossy dark brown to black. Males have short wings covering about three-quarters of the abdomen; females have only wing stubs. Neither flies. Slower and clumsier than other roaches, with a strong musty odor.
Size: 18–29 mm
Commonly Confused With
A ground beetle (beetles have hard, seamed wing covers and move differently) or an American cockroach (reddish, larger, fully winged).
Why It Shows Up
Cool, wet places: they enter under doors and through foundation cracks, floor drains, and crawlspace vents, especially in summer drought when they are looking for water and in fall when temperatures drop.
Where Homeowners Find It
Basement floors and floor drains, crawlspaces, under porches and mulch, in leaf-filled window wells, around water meters, and along garage walls.
Seasonal Activity in KC
Adults most common May through July and again in September; they can survive outdoors through Kansas City winters in protected spots.
Risk Level
Contaminate food and surfaces with bacteria picked up from decaying matter and drains. Less of a breeding problem indoors than German roaches.
What You Can Do Yourself
- • Reduce moisture: fix downspouts, grade soil away from the foundation, and clear leaves from window wells.
- • Seal the garage door bottom and basement door sweeps.
- • Keep floor drain traps filled.
What Professional Treatment Involves
Granular bait and residual treatment around the foundation, window wells, and crawlspace; interior treatment of the basement and drain areas; and moisture and exclusion recommendations that address why they are there.
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Common Questions
How do I tell an oriental cockroach from something that looks similar?
A ground beetle (beetles have hard, seamed wing covers and move differently) or an American cockroach (reddish, larger, fully winged).
Do I need professional treatment for oriental cockroach?
Granular bait and residual treatment around the foundation, window wells, and crawlspace; interior treatment of the basement and drain areas; and moisture and exclusion recommendations that address why they are there.