Each female can produce about 78 young in the five to six months of her lifetime. These cockroaches are perhaps more common in large kitchens, damp basements, dumps and sewage treatment plants. Because of their large size, they prefer areas that offer them good hiding places. In spite of its name, this common house pest is probably native to Africa. But it is now widely distributed around the world.
Adults are brown and the young are a slightly paler brown.
Not only are these cockroaches the largest, but they produce the most number of young per female. Adult females may lay as many as 33 egg pods, which would mean about 430 young in the year and a half they live. Like the Oriental, the American cockroach requires big cracks and holes to hide in. Therefore, these pests are usually more common in store basements, warehouses, garbage dumps, and commercial establishments such as restaurants, warehouses, and apartment complexes. Slightly smaller than the German species, this cockroach has two brown bands across the wings.