Turkestan Cockroaches Displacing Oriental Roaches in Parts of North America

For pest management professionals in many parts of the country, particularly the desert Southwest, oriental cockroaches (Blatta orientalis) are being displaced by Turkestan cockroaches (Shelfordella lateralis). 

At a symposium held at the 2022 National Conference on Urban Entomology in Salt Lake City, participants documented the prevalence of Turkestan cockroaches in warm regions of California, most or all of Arizona and New Mexico, parts of western Texas, Arkansas, parts of western Appalachia (western Tennessee and western Georgia), eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, adjacent portions of Idaho, and adjacent portions of British Columbia. It is likely that this species is also well established in Baja California and other regions of northern Mexico.

Andrew Sutherland, urban pest management researcher and educator at University of California, shared with PCT that although oriental and Turkestan cockroaches are closely related, there are important differences:

Females. Adult females of both species are dark brown to black, with reduced wings, sometimes called "wing buds." Female Turkestan cockroaches can be distinguished from female oriental cockroaches by the presence of cream-colored lateral bars on their wings and by narrower thoraxes. Look at the space between the "wing buds" — this space is narrower than the width of an individual wing bud on the Turkestan cockroach but wider than the width of an individual wing bud on the oriental cockroach.

Males. Adult male Turkestan cockroaches exhibit a golden, light-brown body color and have fully formed wings. In some cases, male Turkestan cockroaches have been observed to "glide" down from high perches or even to briefly fly. This is in contrast to male oriental cockroaches, which are medium to dark brown, have reduced wings, and are not capable of any kind of flight.

Nymphs. Nymphs of these two species can be difficult to distinguish, but Turkestan nymphs usually have red or reddish coloration on their head, thorax, and portions of their legs, while oriental cockroach nymphs are usually uniform medium to dark brown.