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The word cockroach is stemmed from the Spanish cucaracha. The cockroach is recognizable by a flattened oval body, long hairlike antennae, and a gloss black or brown leathery integument. The head is bent downward, and the mouthparts aim rearward instead of forward or downward as is the case in many other insects. The male usually has two pairs of wings, unlike the female, who in some species, is wingless or possesses vestigial wings. The female creates eggs in egg cases (called oothecae). These are sometimes held away from her body or could be glued in protected places. After the female produces an egg case, the soft, white nymphs emerge. As their exoskeleton solidifies, it turns brown in shade. The geometry and huge size (some species possess a wing spread measurement of higher than 12 cm [4.7 inches]) of cockroaches have turned them into a keen area in the biological laboratory.

The cockroach takes a warm, humid, dark living and is more often than not thriving in tropical and other mild areas. Just a couple of species have become pests. The insect inflicts damage on more material than it eats and possesses a disagreeable scent. The eating habits of the roach, which includes both plant and animal product, ranges from food, paper, clothing, and books to dead insects, especially bedbugs. Insecticides could be taken in roach control.

The American cockroach (species Periplaneta americana) is 30 to 50 mm long (up to about 2 inches), reddish brown, and lives in an outdoor habitat or in dark, heated indoor spaces (e.g., basements and furnace rooms). During its adult life, a period of about 1.5 years, the female generates 50 or more oothecae, each holding around 16 eggs that hatch after 45 days. Nymphal life goes from 11 to 14 months. The American cockroach, originally from tropical and subtropical America, has well-developed wings. However, most species are not good flyers.

The German cockroach (Blattella germanica), a common household pest and sometimes incorrectly thought of as a waterbug, is light brown with two dark stripes on the prothoracic region. The female produces the ootheca three days after mating and carries it for about 20 days. Because it is miniature (about 12 mm [less than 0.5 inch] long), this cockroach often can be carried into homes in grocery bags and boxes; it has spread between nations by boat. Three or more generations could occur yearly. This cockroach, found abundantly in the water pipes of the Croton Aqueduct in New York City, has become called the Croton bug.

The brown-banded cockroach (Supella supellectilium) is like the German cockroach but is even smaller. The male has completely developed wings and is lighter in shade than the female, whose wings are undeveloped and nonfunctional. Both sexes have two light-coloured bands along the back. The adult life span is around 200 days, and there could be two generations in a year. Eggs are be deposited in clothes, wood molding, or cracks in the floor. With the invention of heated buildings this cockroach became more common in cooler temperatures.

The Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) is held as one of the most disgusting of household pests. It is oval, shiny black or dark brown, 25 to 30 mm (1 to 1.2 inches) long, with a life cycle similar to that of the American cockroach. The male has short, fully developed wings, but the female possesses vestigial wings. This cockroach has been distributed in vehicles of commerce from its Asiatic origins to almost every temperate regions.

Wood roaches are wild pests. Parcoblatta pennsylvanica, the common wood cockroach, lives beneath logs and stones in northern latitudes. The male and female are so different in appearance that they were once believed to be unique species. The male, 15 to 25 mm (0.6 to 1 inch) long, possesses wings that extend past the abdomen; the female is smaller and possesses much shorter wings. Cryptocercus punctulatus consumes wood with the aid of certain protozoans in its digestive tract.

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