Smokybrown Cockroach Nymphs

General Information

Smokybrown cockroaches are an invasive species that originally arrived in the United States from Asia. However, they are now widely distributed in the Gulf Coast States, the southern coastal Atlantic States as well as California. Smokybrown cockroaches have incomplete metamorphosis, which means they go through three developmental stages in their life cycle – egg, nymph, and adult.

Smokybrown Cockroach Babies/Nymphs

When someone sees a “baby” cockroach, they are actually referring a small version of the adult, which is an immature stage know as nymphs. Smokybrown baby cockroach nymphs are black, smaller than the one-inch long adults, have a white band that goes across the thorax (the body segment right behind the head) and their antennae have whitish colored ends or tips in the early nymphal stage. In addition, cockroach nymphs do not have wings and therefore cannot fly. Another interesting and unusual characteristic of the nymphs is they sometimes they hold the last few segments of their abdomen above their body and somewhat take on the appearance of earwigs or scorpions.

However, while relatively unimportant to nymphs, wings are very valuable to adults. Smokybrown cockroach adults are strongly attracted to lights and are considered to be relatively strong flies when compared to many other species of cockroaches.