"The Australian Cockroach"(Periplaneta australasiae)

The Australian cockroach closely resembles the American cockroach, but can be separated from it by its slight smaller size (more than 1 inch/25 mm),the yellow margin on the thorax and the light yellow streaks on the sides at the base of the wing covers or elytra. Late instar nymphs possess distinct bright yellow spots along the margins of their abdomen.

This worldwide species has become established in many greenhouses and is apparently more vegetarian than the others. Nevertheless, it is also a pest in homes where it may eat holes in clothing and feed upon book covers. Hebard (1917) noted that although this cockroach has been recorded as far north as Canada, it is firmly established only "near the borders of towns in peninsular Florida." Hebard further states: "It is constantly being introduced north of the regions in which it has become established, but is evidently much more decidedly affected by cold than P. americana, and in consequence has never become permanently established in the United States north of the areas in which the winter climate is comparatively mild. In the colder regions of the United States, when it appeared in greenhouses and such artificially heated places, it has been found to breed and increase in numbers with great rapidity, temporarily becoming a dangerous pest, so that vigorous efforts have been found necessary to exterminate such a colony."

This insect's life cycle was studied by Cornwell (1968). It takes 40 days for the ootheca to develop and hatch. There are 24 eggs per egg capsule, 16 of wich hatch. Each female produces 20 to 30 oothecae. Nymphs take about one year to develop. Some eggs produced parthenogenetically hatch, but the nymphs do not mature. In the United States, it is most abundant in Florida and the coastal southern states, and in California it ranges as far north as San Francisco.