About Brown-Banded Cockroaches

About Brown-Banded Cockroaches (Appearance, behavior, life cycle, habitat)

The brown-banded cockroach (Supella longipalpa), sometimes referred to as the “furniture cockroach,” is an indoor cockroach species known for its small size and the two light-colored bands in its nymph and adult stage. These cockroaches are, at times, confused with the German cockroach. Unlike other cockroach species, Brown-banded roaches need warm temperatures to survive, and their eggs don’t depend on moisture to hatch. As such, they often hide their egg capsules in furniture. Since they do pretty well in a warm environment, these cockroaches can find their way into your home for shelter, food, and plenty of hiding places. But in most cases, these stubborn roaches may get to your living spaces with the introduction of infested furniture. Once in your house, you can find these cockroaches in dry and warm places such as in the cabinets, closets, and pantries. You can also find them in electronic equipment, around the motor casing, and refrigerators.

Appearance

While the appearance differs from one stage of development to another, adult roaches are light brown. Brown-banded cockroaches go through egg and nymphal steps before becoming mature adults.

a. Egg

One of the distinguishing features of this type of cockroach is the relatively small ootheca, about 5mm. The egg case is reddish-brown or yellow. The females carry the ootheca until it hardens for about 36 hours or less before attaching it on hard and hidden surfaces or the wall’s upperparts.

b. Nymph

As the name suggests, this type of cockroach has two light brown bands just below the thorax. And that’s what distinguishes the nymph of the brown- banded cockroach from the nymph of other similar cockroach species.

c. Adult

Brown-banded cockroaches are the smallest compared to other invasive cockroach species. The adult roaches may grow up to 11 to 14.5 mm at maturity. Adult male brown-banded cockroaches are 2mm longer than the female ones. They have two dark parallel lines that run across the back (seen when wings are closed). The males can fly when agitated while females can’t. The male wings fully cover the abdominal area while the females have shorter wings with a visibly larger abdomen. A brown-banded cockroach can live up to 28 weeks in its adult stage.

Behavior

The brown-banded cockroach is an indoor insect. It prefers furniture, cabinets, dressers, pantries, or generally dry and warm areas. Over 90% of the laid eggs are attached to these surfaces. Since they’re water-hating creatures, they usually hide in the infested home’s ceilings alongside other dry and hidden spots. Moreover, these cockroaches are nocturnal. As such, they mainly hunt for their food at night. But at times, you might come across brown-banded cockroaches looking for food in the daytime. These insects feed on organic materials like glue, paste, and starch.
In addition to that, they can also feed on non-food materials like nylon stockings, probably for the body oils and skin flake remains. They rarely bite unless they are scavenging for food; they have no business with human blood. Just like other types of roaches, female brown-banded cockroaches produce a sex pheromone to attract males. After mating, the female might cease to exhibit the calling behavior throughout her life cycle. During the calling process, the female sprouts her wings to expose her genitals to aid successful
mating.

Life cycle

The brown-banded cockroach’s life cycle follows three development stages; the egg, 6-9 nymphal instars, then the adult. The eggs are in an egg-case called the ootheca, each egg-case contains about 18 eggs, but only 12-14 eggs will hatch. The female brown-banded cockroach producse up to 20 cases in her lifetime.
The eggs incubate for 40-100 days, depending on the environmental temperatures. The life cycle of a brown-banded cockroach is significantly affected by temperatures. They thrive in relatively high temperatures of 25°C- 33°C. A brown-banded cockroach can live up to 28 weeks in its adult stage. Recently, the population of this type of invasive cockroach has reduced drastically. But this could be attributed to the availability of air conditioners in homes, leading to unfavorable temperatures for their development.

Habitat

Unlike other cockroach species, the brown-banded cockroach is rarely found near food sources like restaurants or kitchens. They are also referred to as “furniture cockroaches,” as the name suggests; they prefer residing in furniture and high resting places like the ceilings. The brown-banded cockroach is rarely found in the outdoors like the American and the oriental cockroach.