The wood roach is often thought to be its cousin, the American roach. Wood cockroaches, which can grow up to one and one-quarter inches long, prefer to eat decaying organic matter and are attracted to light, whereas most roaches run from light. Females deposit their egg capsules outdoors under old logs, stumps and firewood. There is one generation of Wood cockroaches per year and, in some cases, the life cycle takes two years.

At dusk, Wood cockroach males may begin taking short flights and are drawn to porch or house lights. The Wood cockroach normal habitat is moist woodland areas but it frequently become a

Woods Roach

household nuisance because it wanders into or is carried into the house with firewood.

Wood roaches which are also called the Pennsylvania Woodroach, do not survive indoors which is probably the best news you have read so far. They require the consistently moist environment of their natural habitats such as under wood piles or loose bark and in decaying logs. So, unless your housekeeping is way below par, the presence of wood roaches is strictly a temporary annoyance. They usually die within a few days in the house, so a call to the exterminator is probably not required.

If Wood cockroaches are found anywhere inside the home, usually they are solitary. So, it’s not necessary to go looking for the mate. Wood cockroaches do not reproduce or multiply inside. Since wood cockroaches do not establish themselves indoors and their presence is temporary (a few weeks, at most) during the spring, chemical pest control measures are rarely needed.