Cuban Cockroaches

Facts, Identification, & Control

Scientific Name

Panchlora nivea


What Do They Look Like?
  • Color: Adult Cuban cockroaches are light green with a thin yellow coloration on the front of their head and the front half of their wings. The nymphs are brown or black and are very different in appearance compared to the adults.
  • Size: Full-grown adults are about 3/4 to 1 inch long.

How Did I Get Cuban Cockroaches?

Since light attracts Cuban cockroaches, the pests may wander indoors through open gaps around windows and doors. When homeowners find these insects outside of their tropical habitat, imported bananas or greenhouse plants are usually to blame for bringing them into homes. The pests are fairly easy to identify since they are relatively large and have a greenish coloration.

How Serious Are Cuban Cockroaches?

These insects are strictly outdoor pests, as they cannot live inside for long. Cuban cockroaches may appear in large numbers near mulch, wood, or leaf piles, which can be distressing for residents. Banana plants often suffer damage due to infestations. They are strongly attracted to lights, so keeping lights turned off, if possible, and reducing their typical habitat are good ways to lessen the potential impact from these cockroaches.

Signs of Infestation

Night is the normal time of greatest activity, and the females of this species are attracted to porch lights and other sources of light. Cuban cockroaches are rarely found indoors, but when they do get inside, they are not known to breed and develop within structures. The exception to this general behavioral habit is their abundance in some greenhouses where large populations may exist. Evidence of nymphs or adults indicates their presence.

How Do I Get Rid of Cuban Cockroaches?

What You Can Do

Although Cuban cockroaches rarely infest a home, it is important to keep them outside. Since they are strongly attracted to lights, the best way to help prevent them from getting inside is to ensure that windows, doors, cracks, crevices, and crawl space doors are tightly sealed.

What Orkin Does

Your local Orkin technician is trained to help manage Cuban cockroaches and similar pests. Since every building or home is different, your Orkin technician will design a unique program for your situation.

Orkin can provide the right solution to keep Cuban cockroaches in their place…out of your home, or business.

Behavior, Diet, & Habits

What Do They Eat?

Cuban cockroaches typically feed on organic materials such as:

  • Food Scraps
  • Rotting Fruit
  • Paper Scraps
Where Do They Live?

Cuban cockroaches are usually found living in or under

  • Firewood Stacks
  • Leaf Piles
  • Logs
  • Mulch
  • Plant Debris
  • Shrubbery
  • Trees
Geographic Range

The Cuban cockroach is found in many areas of Florida and along the Gulf Coast states into central Texas. It may be introduced into northern city seaports since it often is found in banana shipments. This species is native to Cuba.

Life Cycle

Cuban cockroaches go through three developmental stages:

  1. Eggs
  2. Nymphs
  3. Adults

Female Cuban cockroaches carry the egg case inside their body, and unlike other cockroach species, the Cuban cockroach egg case is crescent shaped. Eggs develop inside the female’s abdomen for about two months and then emerge as nymphs. Females give birth to about 30 nymphs at a time.