---
title: "American Cockroach"
description: "Periplaneta americana — Insetti e ragni. The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) is the largest species of cockroach routinely found in homes, and often considered a pest."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/american-cockroach
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# American Cockroach

> Periplaneta americana — Insetti e ragni. The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) is the largest species of cockroach routinely found in homes, and often considered a pest.

- Scientific name: *Periplaneta americana*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `urban` (Città e giardini)
- iNaturalist observations: 45743
- Wikidata: [Q267996](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q267996)
- iNaturalist taxon: [82231](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/82231)

## Names

- en: American Cockroach
- de: Amerikanische Schabe
- es: Cucaracha roja africana
- fr: Blatte américaine
- nl: Amerikaanse kakkerlak
- pt: Barata-americana
- pl: Przybyszka amerykańska

## Countries with the most observations

US (15416), MX (2480), ES (1805), BR (1368), AU (927), PT (766), IN (668), TW (639), ID (609), TH (593), GR (508), PH (483)

## Summary

The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) is the largest species of cockroach routinely found in homes, and often considered a pest. In certain regions of the U.S. it is colloquially known as the waterbug, though it is not a true waterbug since it is not aquatic, nor a Hemipteran. It is also known as the ship cockroach, kakerlac, and Bombay canary. It is often misidentified as a palmetto bug.
Despite their name, American cockroaches are native to Africa and the Middle East. They are believed to have been introduced to the Americas only from the 17th century onward as a result of human commercial patterns, including…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_cockroach

## Photo

![American Cockroach](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/american-cockroach/medium.jpg)

Photo: Allan Harris · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200718902

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/american-cockroach?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).