Talk:American cockroach

message: This article is missing the most important information:  Do these creatures have any significant impact on human health?  Do they carry disease?  Do they cause adverse health reactions?  Do they compete with humans for resources?  Having read this articel I still have no idea if an infestation is just a cosmetic nusance or an actual hazard?  Please could someone knowledgable expand on this issue?
65.34.197.239 (talk) 23:54, 29 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Public Health implications 

message: How's it going, guys and gals? I noticed that the image used to illustrate this article is copyrighted and could do with a free replacement. Can anyone provide a PD/GPL/etc. image of an American cockroach? I'll say thank you really loud! Lusanaherandraton 04:55, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Free image request 

message: I'm willing to do what I can, but I think this as an article that needs some serious expansion. RatherBeBiking 04:08, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Could use Some expansion 

message: I sprayed one with Raid once and watched it try to fly but it hit the floor pretty quick.  A lot of people don't believe me that I saw one "fly".  How well do they fly?  Can they travel decent distances by air or can they only sort-of fly?
:While I'm not sure how far they can fly, as a Texan I can definitely attest that they do fly. (To stick to the subject of WP article improvement: The ref from Harvard says it's the males that fly, which I believe was incorporated into the WP article, though I'll check.) I've largely given up spraying them with Raid precisely because that seems to be a major trigger prompting them to fly, which scares the ---- out of me.Lawikitejana (talk) 07:22, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: They can fly for several meters if they are able to climb somewhere first. That is, normally they can't take off from the floor, they must jump from some height (which may be as little as 20 cm). 189.78.226.156 (talk) 08:26, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: The previous comment is basically correct - they "fly" somewhat akin to the way a "flying squirrel" flies, albeit flapping their wings instead of gliding - but climbing up high and losing altitude quickly. The article states that this is "rare," which is NOT my experience. If you live in an infested area, you will see them fly quite frequently. Not as often as mosquitoes, but not just when they are sprayed with insecticide. While my current residence is curiously devoid of roaches (even without a great deal of effort on my part), in past residences (mine and others'), it was not unusual to see several to many "in flight" in a month until extermination efforts could be taken. Samatva (talk) 17:32, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I can certainly vouch for this.  I just saw a giant cockroach fly in my living room and I was looking on Wikipedia to find out where they don't have giant cockroaches when i saw "They have been known to fly, but this is rare."  As you said, in my experience, this is not rare.  I live in New Orleans and I think if I had to choose between getting rid of cockroaches or hurricanes, I'd choose cockroaches.  God, I hate those bastards.72.150.5.8 (talk) 04:19, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

text: In my experience, the adults are able to fly (and, one should note, they have fully developed wings, unlike some other species of cockroach) but they prefer not to fly. I was sitting quietly at home one evening, untroubled by cockroaches, and had a visitor. Within seconds after he entered, they had come out of crevices or from under furniture and were flying everywhere around the room. There may have been a dozen of them, and I had not suspected that they were there. I think my visitor had used some sort of hair oil or body spray that simply drove them crazy. 173.174.85.204 (talk) 18:54, 8 May 2017 (UTC)

text: I have absolutely witnessed one of these fly across my face and the entire length of my living room, landing on the wall behind me. Perhaps it started from high up and may have somehow been a glide, but if asked i would say yes it can fly.--Mapsfly (talk) 00:08, 30 May 2015 (UTC)

text: "The article states that this is "rare," which is NOT my experience...". I have seen some flying, and yes, straight from the ground. I don't really know if this is a misconception or what, but apparently some cockroaches do fly often when i try to kill them, while others don't. Some people from here thinks that there is a common and a flying species, others that this is an individual thing. Maybe a learned behavior? Is much harder to kill one while it is "flying", i mean, at least without contaminating your bare hands with cockroach fluids (which is generally avoided by the humans i know). Gottliber (talk) 11:48, 23 February 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Can they really fly? 

message: o_O
Are they really from there? I'm just quoting this from what the article says right now.
--Unknown
Very unlikely. The article states that the cockroach is found "near human habitations due to its lack of cold tolerance" and that it "prefers warmer climates and is not cold tolerant".
A quick look at the articles history reveals this edit to be at fault, probably vandalism.
However, even prior to that edit it was claimed that the Periplaneta americana probably originated in Asia. AFAIK it is commonly believed that it originated in Africa.
Fixed now.
--87.68.157.123 18:15, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  "The insect is believed to have originated from Antartica, " .. is this true? 

message: This article looks like it might have too many images for its relatively small amount of text...  usually, one image would be enough for an article of this size, unless there was something that really called for more.  It's bad enough that it's disrupting the text on most resolutions.  Would anyone have any objection to choosing one image and cleaning out the rest? --Aquillion 22:06, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It would be nice to add an image of an immature one. All images currently in the article show winged adults. —BarrelProof (talk) 21:07, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Too many images? 

message: I've heard people have EATEN these things. Should this be mentioned ? Heard they're bought at the local grocery AS food. 205.240.144.168 02:14, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Food

message: The article highlights the conservation status of a cockroach!!!
A cockroach! You have got to be kidding me! Some of the wikipedia articles on well known endangered species of fauna and flora don't have their conservation status highlighted! But you have got that for a roach in this article!
Somebody is really giving these insects their share of the due, huh!
: We can dream, can't we? - Richfife (talk) 19:59, 9 May 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Conservation status of a roach? 

message: As nice as the section is, it just doesn't fit right here in an encyclopedia entry, it gives step by step instructions of how to get rid of them...  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.176.189.244 (talk) 00:22, 28 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Control Section

message: ARE THERE QUEENS? ARE THE ROACHES "A" SEXUAL? DOES THE HEAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHAT SEX THEY ARE? HOW LONG CAN THEY LIVE DORMANT? ALSO I FOUND SO IN PLASTIC TOTES 8 MONTHS AFTER I MOVED AND THE BINS WERE SEALED IS THAT NORMAL OR SHOULD THEY HAVE BEEN DEAD? PLEASE ANSWER HEAT HER  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.93.191.220 (talk) 04:26, 2 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  roaches? do they have a queen and are they  A sexual? 

message: For the statement that cockroaches are often considered a pest?   Really?  Perhaps some things can be taken as fact unless challenged.
--Dilapidus (talk) 00:27, 16 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Does that really say 'citation needed' 

message: The article states that American cockroaches often come indoors during the winter looking for warm weather, however the majority of appearances of cockroaches indoors seems to be in the summer, particularly during periods of drought, as the cockroach searches for water. For this reason, cockroaches are normally close to death when found indoors during the summer as they have been forced to come out of their favored environment of dark places.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.251.11.65 (talk) 20:23, 31 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Moving indoors 

message: Actinopterygii only consists of types of fish. The correct family is Blattidae according to numerous sources. There is absolutely NOTHING to attest to the American Cockroach belonging to Actinopterygii!  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.146.12.242 (talk) 20:50, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Family is NOT Actinopterygii 

message: I would like to purpose a section, "Kill it with Fire", in which we can go into detail about how to kill American Cockroaches.  Preferably with fire. Jessyisasmith (talk) 16:34, 19 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: yes, please do this 67.167.161.150 (talk) 14:01, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Purposed Section: "Kill it with Fire" 

message: The History section describes the early fossil history of cockroaches and their ancestors in general, rather than saying anything specific about the American cockroach.  It seems out of place and would fit better in another article. Cephal-odd (talk) 19:43, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  'History' section is too broad 

message: Cosmetic companies reportedly use them as a source of protein and for a “cellulose-like substance” on their wings, according to the Times.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.130.168.139 (talk) 07:20, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  uses 

message: This edit changed the flying status of Oriental cockroaches from No to Yes, removed the source saying they didn't see where in the cited reference, and supplying no alternative source. The statement is based on page 51 of the cited source, first paragraph under the section "Oriental cockroach, waterbug, Blatta orientalis", which reads: "Wings of the male cover two-thirds of the abdomen, while female wings extend slightly past the thorax; neither sex is capable of flying." Agyle (talk) 08:49, 17 April 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Challenged source 

message: I suggest to move the table under Comparison of three common cockroaches to the Cockroach article (e.g. section Notable species), because it contains information regarding several species. I hope that this is possible without importing/copying the editing history. --Mopskatze (talk) 13:14, 23 August 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Move comparison table 

message: Some editor seems to have thought this cockroach is American or that our readers live in cold weather climates. Such generalizations can only harm the encyclopedia, this is primarily a tropical cockroach and the cold weather bias simply unacceptable. ♫ SqueakBox talk contribs 23:28, 1 August 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: American?

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: The book linked in Cite #19 does not refer to 'American Cockroaches' at all, only the other two varieties.  Additionally, the information linked should probably be page 223 in the google books version, not 317.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.127.52.110 (talk) 19:17, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Citation Challenge 

message: Hi, I checked the history and found what seems to be the origin of incomplete sentence that was in the lead section:
", including the Atlantic Slave Tradehttp://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/american-cockroaches-racism-and-ecology-slave-ship"
This edit:
Latest revision as of 08:22, June 19, 2019 (edit) (undo)
2601:589:4600:5994:98e9:3271:599f:b5ec (talk) [welcome]
I don't know what the sentence was supposed to say. Feel free to add it back if you can figure it out, and formulate it into a complete sentence. :) :) Curdigirl (talk) 17:09, 12 August 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: It had the appearance of an incomplete sentence due to an error. The sentence as it was intended should have read:  I'm going to re-add it with the proper correction. --Equivamp - talk 19:05, 12 August 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: { Good looking out! Thank you Equivamp! :) :) 22:19, 12 August 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removal of incomplete sentence