It is no secret that Texas has a thriving cockroach community, as several cities in the state are commonly named by pest control professionals as being the most roach-infested metropolitan areas in the country. Just like in the rest of the country, the German cockroach species is the most common cockroach pest within San Antonio homes. The German cockroach tends to be the most commonly encountered roach pest within all US homes due to this species’ habit of dwelling primarily within indoor environments where they can reproduce rapidly. The brown-banded cockroach is the only other cockroach pest species in the US that naturally dwells within structures, and this species is also abundant in San Antonio. Several other cockroach pest species that are well known pests, like American and Oriental cockroaches, are common in the city, but a few lesser known cockroach pests invade San Antonio homes regularly. Some of these lesser known species include the field cockroach, the brown cockroach, the smokybrown cockroach, the Surinam cockroach and the Turkestan cockroach.
The brown cockroach (Periplaneta brunnea) has become fairly well established in the southeastern US states, and according to experts, this species is most abundant in San Antonio, and has been since the species was first documented in the US in the mid 20th century. During the late 1960s, the brown cockroach was documented in California for the first time after a Los Angeles apartment building became infested with the exotic roach pests. As it turned out, the infested apartment unit had been rented out to a couple that had just moved to the city from San Antonio, indicating that the roach pests had hitchhiked to LA from San Antonio within the couple’s belongings. Brown cockroaches have been documented as invading other non-native US areas from San Antonio in the past, and amazingly, the brown cockroach is even more abundant in San Antonio than the American cockroach species. The American and brown cockroach species are similar in appearance, as both are reddish-brown in color and grow to lengths of 2 inches, but the brown cockroach is slightly larger in width. Today, the brown cockroach can be found throughout Texas, but the species remains particularly abundant in San Antonio.
Have you ever encountered a cockroach specimen in your home that you believe measured over 2 inches in length?
