This cockroach was caught by a girl in her kitchen near the back door of her house on Long Island, New York.
This is most likely a female dusky cockroach Ectobius lapponicus, one of the most common species of the genus Ectobius in the United States. Apparently, they feel great on the bushes and trees among fashionable houses and successfully reproduce here. They are generally very common in parks and courtyards in any cities and villages. Here, for example, are several males in a hedgerow in a small tourist town in the mountains:
It is noteworthy that the girl sent me this photo in mid-October. At this time in New York it is already quite cool, and at night the temperature can drop below +10°C. And even at such a temperature, dusky cockroaches stay active (although, they are likely to slow down) and continue to disperse.
So don’t be surprised if even now, when you have to wrap yourself in a hoodie and need a cup of coffee to stay warm in the mornings, forest cockroaches can easily get into your apartment or house on Long Island. Let me remind you that these are completely harmless insects that do not reproduce in living spaces and do not cause any harm, even if they accidentally end up here. It is only important to be able to distinguish them from the real pests – German cockroaches. I explained in detail how to do this:
In any case, the occasional cockroach in an apartment on Long Island or in any other districts in NYC in the middle of autumn is very likely a harmless forest cockroach. So recognize it and do not let it scare you and spend money for an exterminator!
