German Cockroach

Order/family: Blattodea/Blattellidae

Scientific Name: Blattella germanica

Description: German cockroaches are 1/2” to 5/8” long when mature, light brown to tan, and have fully developed wings. The pronoun or the shield-like segment behind the head has two dark parallel bars on it. The adult males are somewhat narrower than the females when viewed from below. The nymphs, 1/8” long when they emerge from the egg capsule, are almost uniformly dark except for a light tan area on the back of the second and third segments. As they develop, the light tan area becomes larger until, as mature nymphs, they have two parallel black bars separated by a light tan area. The purse-shaped egg capsule (ootheca) of German cockroaches is light brown or tan, 1/4” to 3/8” long, and typically contains 30 to 40 eggs.