Oriental cockroach: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the oriental cockroach lives – recorded in 23 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Blatta orientalis
Group	Grasshoppers, bugs & other insects
Found in	23 countries
Continents	Asia, Europe, North America, South America
Class	Insect
Order	Blattodea
Family	Blattidae

Where does the oriental cockroach live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the oriental cockroach in 23 countries and territories across Asia, Europe, North America and South America. In Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Portugal, Romania, Sweden it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

United States
United Kingdom (introduced)
Romania (introduced)
Portugal (introduced)
Spain
France (introduced)
Italy
Russia
Hungary
Switzerland
Ukraine
Turkey
Germany (introduced)
Bulgaria (introduced)
Greece
Croatia
Sweden (introduced)
Chile
Belgium (introduced)
Mexico
Serbia
Austria (introduced)
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the oriental cockroach?

The oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) is an insect in the order Blattodea and the family Blattidae, genus Blatta. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the oriental cockroach

The oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis), also known as the waterbug (as they live in damp areas) or black cockroach (as their bodies are mostly dark), is a large species of cockroach, adult males being 18–29 mm (23⁄32–1+5⁄32 in) and adult females being 20–27 mm (25⁄32–1+1⁄16 in). It is dark brown or black in color and has a glossy body. The female has a somewhat different appearance from the male, appearing to be wingless at a casual glance, but is brachypterous, having non-functional wings just below her head. She has a wider body than the male. The male has long wings, which cover three quarters of the abdomen and are brown in color, and has a narrower body. Both of them are flightless. The female oriental cockroach looks somewhat similar to the Florida woods cockroach and may be mistaken for it. Originally endemic to the Crimean Peninsula and the region around the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, its distribution is now cosmopolitan.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Oriental cockroach (revision 1379267382), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q20869 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).