Asian cockroach
Blattella asahinai
FAMILY
Blattellidae
TAXONOMY
Blattella asahinai Mizukubo, 1981, Okinawa.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The sexes are similar; fully winged. Reaches 0.31–0.47 in (8–12 mm) in length. Yellowish or yellowish brown. Adult pronotum has a pair of light to dark brown longitudinal stripes. This species is almost impossible to distinguish from the German cockroach but differs markedly in behavior.
DISTRIBUTION
This species is the most recent introduction into the United States. Although it is not distributed as widely as the German cockroach, it has been found (as its synonym Blattella beybienkoi) in Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands, Myanmar, Chagos Archipelago, China, India, Thailand, and Okinawa.
HABITAT
In Florida, where it was introduced and became established and spread, it occurs outdoors on lawns, bushes, and trees.
BEHAVIOR
Flies readily. Active at sunset. Adults are attracted to white walls and illuminated buildings. Adults and larvae are active in grass and mulch. In houses adults fly to lights and sit on walls, tables, and dishes. Winged adults are half an inch (12.7 mm) long and have a pair of longitudinal stripes on the thorax; the larvae lack wings but also are striped.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
In Florida it often feeds on aphid honeydew.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
In the laboratory Asian cockroach males cross with German cockroach females and produce offspring. Crosses between male German cockroaches and Asian females did not produce offspring.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Considered a pest on lawns in Florida, sometimes making outdoor activities almost impossible.
