Surinam Cockroach Facts & Information

What You Can Do

Always inspect plants before bringing them inside to prevent cockroach issues. If these pests have already taken hold of a garden or flowerbed, baits may help reduce their population.Always inspect plants before bringing them inside to prevent cockroach issues. If these pests have already taken hold of a garden or flowerbed, baits may help reduce their population.

What Orkin Does

Your local Orkin Pro is trained to help manage Surinam cockroaches and similar pests. Since every building or home is different, your Orkin Pro will design a unique cockroach treatment program for your situation.

Orkin can provide the right solution to keep Surinam cockroaches in their place and out of your home or business.

Appearance

• Size: Surinam cockroaches are about one inch in length.

• Color: They are dark black or brown with olive-green or dark brown wings.

• Body: These cockroaches are small and stout with a shiny, shield-shaped head.

Diet

These pests burrow into the ground and feed on plant stems and roots.

Habitat

Surinam cockroaches are nocturnal and live underground, so residents may not see them. These cockroaches need warmth and moisture and cannot survive cold winters.

Geographical Range

These garden pests are most commonly found in humid, tropic areas such as the southeastern United States.

Reproduction

Only females are important in reproduction since these cockroaches reproduce asexually, so male fertilization is not necessary. But another interesting and unusual characteristic of Surinam cockroaches is they are oviparous.

This means a female will carry her egg case inside her body until her nymphs hatch from the eggs and are birthed by the female. They can have an average of 3 egg cases which contain an average of 24 eggs. Cockroach reproduction occurs year-round.