Discoid cockroach

Blaberus discoidalis

Eats: A bit of everything Cockroaches and termitesRainforests and jungles6 legs

The discoid cockroach is a big, tan cockroach with a dark patch behind its head. It comes from warm places around the Caribbean Sea. It has wings, but it hardly ever flies, and it cannot climb up smooth walls.

Lives in

Central America, the Caribbean islands, northern South America and Florida

Length

3.5 to 4.5 cm (1.4 to 1.8 in)

Top speed

about 3.7 km/h (2.3 mph)

On foot, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It does not bite or sting, which is why people keep it as a pet or as food for pets.

What does it eat?

Like other cockroaches, it eats many kinds of food, from bits of plants and fruit to leftovers.

Photo of Discoid cockroach — Picture by Politikaner. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

as long as 8 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 1 secondsmoves 23 times its own body length every second

How big is Discoid cockroach compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

Discoid cockroach about 3.7 km/h (2.3 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

It is called the false death's head cockroach because it looks a bit like another cockroach with a skull-like pattern.

It can run about 25 times its own body length in one second.

Scientists used the way it runs and climbs to design little cockroach robots.

The young ones are brown with tan speckles and grow up in 4 to 5 months.

The mother keeps her eggs in a pouch inside her body.

you asked

Most asked questions about Discoid cockroach

?Is the discoid cockroach dangerous?

No. It does not bite or sting and it cannot climb smooth walls.

?Can a discoid cockroach fly?

It has wings, but it hardly ever flies.

?How big is the discoid cockroach?

A grown-up is about 3.5 to 4.5 centimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Blaberus discoidalis
Group: Cockroaches and termites
Family: Blaberidae
Classification: Insecta > Blattodea > Blaberidae
Lives on: North America, South America
Also known as: Tropical cockroach, West Indian leaf cockroach, False death's head cockroach, Drummer

Where the facts come from

Blaberus discoidalis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by Politikaner. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.