Florida woods cockroach
The Florida woods cockroach is a big, dark brown cockroach that lives in warm, damp woods. It moves slowly and has only tiny wings, so it cannot fly. Its special trick is a very stinky spray, just like a skunk.
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Fun facts
When it is scared, it can shoot its smelly spray up to one metre away.
The spray also works as an alarm that tells other cockroaches nearby to run.
The biggest one ever found in a Florida cockroach contest was 6.2 centimetres long.
It often sits on palmetto trees, which is why some people call it the palmetto bug.
The mother lays her eggs in a little brown case that holds about 21 to 23 eggs and buries it in soil or rotting wood.
Most asked questions about Florida woods cockroach
?Is the Florida woods cockroach dangerous?
No. Its spray smells awful and can sting your eyes, but it is not harmful.
?Can the Florida woods cockroach fly?
No. Its front wings are tiny and it has no back wings at all.
?Why is it called a skunk roach?
Because it can spray a very bad smell when it is scared, just like a skunk.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Eurycotis floridana
- Group
- Cockroaches and termites
- Family
- Blattidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Blattodea > Blattidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Florida skunk roach, Florida stinkroach, Skunk cockroach, Palmetto bug
Where the facts come from
- Florida woods cockroach (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 Arthur Windsor. CC BY 4.0, 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.
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