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Sticker of Brown cockroach
Bug card No. 0664 of 4,939

Brown cockroach

Validiblatta brunnea
Eats: A bit of everythingCockroaches and termitesHouses and farms6 legs

The brown cockroach is a large reddish brown cockroach with full wings. It looks a lot like the American cockroach, only darker. It loves warm, damp and dark places and likes to live indoors, close to people.

Lives in
All over the warm parts of the world and indoors in cooler countries, on every continent except Antarctica
Length
4 cm (1.6 in)
up to this length
Top speed
about 3.5 km/h (2.2 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
It does not bite or sting, but it is a household pest. Do not touch it and wash your hands if you do.
What does it eat?
It eats almost anything, from plant food to animal leftovers.
For real!Photo of Brown cockroach
Picture by Caroline Harding, MAF Plant Health & Environment Laboratory. CC BY 3.0 au, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Brown cockroach about 4 cm long (1.6 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 7 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 1 secondsmoves 24 times its own body length every second

How big is Brown cockroach compared to YOU?

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

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

When it is scared or touched, it gives off a nasty smell.

2

Brown cockroaches like company and rest together in big groups.

3

The mother makes an egg case about 1.2 to 1.6 centimetres long with about 24 eggs inside.

4

It probably came from Africa, but people carried it all around the world by accident.

5

In cold countries it can only survive inside warm buildings.

you asked

Most asked questions about Brown cockroach

?Is the brown cockroach dangerous?

It does not bite or sting, but it is a pest in homes, so it is best not to touch it.

?What does the brown cockroach eat?

Almost anything. It is an omnivore.

?How big is a brown cockroach?

It can grow up to about 4 centimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Validiblatta brunnea
Group
Cockroaches and termites
Family
Blattidae
Classification
Insecta > Blattodea > Blattidae
Lives on
Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Brown 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.
  2. Picture by Caroline Harding, MAF Plant Health & Environment Laboratory. CC BY 3.0 au, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this 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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