Blatta orientalis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status: British Isles non-native species.

Description: Large species of cockroach, dark brown to black in colour with a glossy body.

Size: Up to 25 mm.

Wings: Females have very short vestigial wings, males have longer wings, but both sexes are flightless.

Food: Omnivorous, feeding on refuse and anything edible that is not too dry and hard.

Habitat: Native to Africa and Asia. In Britain occurs only in houses, and in summer, on land fill sites.

Phenology: Indoors adults may be seen all year round.

Distribution: The records held by the National Biodiversity Network are shown in the map below.
Terms & conditions

Colours show the year of the last record -

Only Recording Scheme datasets are included. Other datasets on the Gateway may hold additional information.