Wood Cockroach NH: Appearance, Habitat And Diet

But the wood cockroaches have fascinated most of us who live in wooded areas with their looks, and we are curious to learn more about them. Let’s get started.

 

Wood Cockroach NH

Wood cockroaches, scientifically called Parcoblatta species in the order Blattodea, are one of the 4,000 species of cockroaches. They are common in forested states like Pennsylvania. They look like other types of roaches, with a flat, oval-shaped body and a pair of antennae. They can measure up to one and a half inches long. The female and male wood cockroaches have different looks.

You can tell a male wood cockroach from its long antennae and transparent, long wings with a lighter shade of brown color, while female wood cockroaches have short, and sometimes no, antennae, short wings that cannot be used to fly, and are a dark shade of reddish-brown with a shiny and polished look. Like other types of cockroaches, the wood cockroach has three stages of development.

The egg stage is where the female carries the eggs in an ootheca before they become nymphs and then develop into adult wood cockroaches. You can see them during the day because, unlike other types of roaches like the German cockroach that lives close to human habitats, wood cockroaches are not strictly nocturnal; they are active during the day and at night.

 

Where Do Wood Cockroaches Live?

Wood cockroaches live mostly outdoors in moist woody areas under tree barks and logs of wood. They also live in mulch piles, leaf debris, and under rocks and are common in the American states of Pennsylvania and Virginia. You may see them indoors especially if you live close to wood areas or if you have some firewood piles around your house.

 

What do Wood Cockroaches Eat?

When they are outdoors, they feed on plant and wood debris and whatever they can find there. But when indoors, they will eat human and pet food crumbs and whatever food they find inside your house

 

Why Do Wood Roaches Enter The House?

There are several reasons why Wood cockroaches will enter your house. The first reason is that they enter your house to find food, and water and also to escape the harsh weather of the outdoors.

Another way reason why they enter your house is if you carried them into your house by accident. Wood cockroaches sometimes live in firewood, if you did not check your firewood well before carrying it inside, you may have accidentally carried a wood cockroach inside with you.

Also, wood cockroaches are attracted to light, they are not like other types of cockroaches that hide from the light. They will enter your house if you switch on bright lights at night because your light makes your house resemble their natural habitat in the outdoors.

 

Signs of Wood Cockroaches In The House

Wood cockroaches are not known to cause any damage in the house, unlike other types of cockroaches, so you may not notice any changes or smell in your house. But one way you will know they are present is that you will see them.

They are not afraid of light, nor do they sleep during the day, so you don’t expect them to hide when they see you; they will run around your house.

And because they are not indoor pests, they do not have a favorite place to stay indoors like the German cockroach, whose favorite place is the kitchen area. Wood cockroaches will be everywhere, which is how you will know that they are there.

 

How to Prevent Wood Cockroaches From Entering Your House 

1. One of the things you can do to prevent wood cockroaches is to check your firewood carefully for cockroaches before taking it inside your house. 
2. Switch off bright lights on your garage or porch, especially during their mating period (Early May to June), so that wood cockroaches do not follow the light inside your house. Use a yellow bulb instead of the white fluorescent ones
3. Remove any kind of clutter from and around your house.
4. Make sure that your wood piles are stored far from the house so that wood cockroaches do not have an easy chance of entering your house.

5. Close your window blinds at night so that wood cockroaches do not see the light from your house at night, which they can follow to enter your house.

 

Read also: What Do Cockroaches Symbolize?: Cockroach Symbolism And Spiritual Meaning

 

Conclusion

About The Author