Variable cockroach
The variable cockroach is a small wild cockroach that lives outdoors. It gets its name because the markings on its tummy can look very different from one cockroach to the next. In just a few years it has spread from the warm south of Europe far to the north.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It was first seen in Germany in 2007 and in Britain in 2011.
It likes warm, sheltered places in towns, like parks, gardens and the walls of buildings.
It may wander inside a house by accident, but unlike the German cockroach it does not breed indoors.
Scientists are still working out whether it is one species or a group of look-alike species.
Most asked questions about Variable cockroach
?Is the variable cockroach a pest?
No. It may wander indoors, but it does not breed inside homes, so it is not a household pest.
?Why is it called variable?
The markings on its belly are different from one cockroach to the next.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Planuncus tingitanus
- Named by
- Bolívar, 1914
- Group
- Cockroaches and termites
- Family
- Ectobiidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Blattodea > Ectobiidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa
Where the facts come from
- Planuncus tingitanus s.l. (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 Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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