The Asian cockroach is the small “flying roach” that has become such an epidemic here in Northwest Florida. It was first described in Okinawa, Japan in 1981, and first confirmed as an invasive species within the United States from a sample collected by a professional pest control operator down in Lakeland, Florida in 1986. I first noticed the species up here in the Crestview area in 1993 while performing a home pest control treatment. Today, it has heavily infested all of the Florida panhandle and progressed even further north into Alabama and Georgia.

The Asian roach looks very similar to the German roach, the common problematic “indoor” roach. In fact, entomologists believed it was an outdoor strain of the German roach in Asia. However, despite the almost identical appearances, the two species are easily distinguishable by their dramatically different habits and habitat. The German roach is typically transported indoors and tends to be mostly a problem in the kitchen/bathroom areas of buildings (i.e., available water, food, warmth, and ideal harborage) and does not fly. In stark contrast, the Asian roach lives outside and is very agile as it is capable of sustained flight of up to 150 feet.

This troublesome insect is very prolific with reported population densities of 30,000 to 250,000 individuals per acre. They occur almost anywhere outdoors to include grass, leaf litter, and mulch. Like other insect pests, they are most active during the warmer months (from about April-October in this area) and become even more of a problem after thunderstorms, tropical storms, and hurricanes.

Asian roaches become active in the evening and are attracted to light. The will swarm around exterior lighting and readily fly into doors and windows as they are opened. Once inside, they are typically drawn to brightly-lit areas such as light-colored walls and illuminated television/computer screens.

Because of their extraordinary mobility and population abundance, the Asian roach is difficult to control. The best way to get adequate control of this pest is by having your pest control professional treat both your home exterior perimeter and your yard with either baits, granules, or long-lasting professional sprays. This approach will target the source harborage areas and dramatically reduce the populations that would most likely cause a problem. Besides being a general nuisance, like other roach species, the Asian roach can carry disease and should be controlled. For more information about this pest and other local pests, visit www.spearspestcontrol.com.

The technical data and statistics obtained during the research for this article were provided by the University of Florida.

Eric Spears
Spears Environmental, Inc.
(850) 682-5354