Every May and June the same call comes in from the Poconos, northern New Jersey and the Hudson Valley: a large brown cockroach — sometimes several — flying to the porch light, landing on the screen, turning up on the living room floor in the morning. The homeowner has never seen a roach in the house before and assumes the worst.
It's almost always the Pennsylvania wood cockroach, and it's almost never an infestation. Rest Easy handles cockroach problems across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and this is the one we spend the most time explaining and the least time treating.
What a Pennsylvania wood roach is
An outdoor cockroach native to the eastern U.S. that lives in leaf litter, woodpiles, loose bark, hollow trees, cedar shake and the mulch against your foundation. Adults are about an inch long, chestnut brown, with a pale band along the front edges of the wings. Males fly; in late spring they fly to lights in large numbers looking for females, and that's how they end up on your porch, in the garage, or inside when the door opens. (Penn State Extension)
They don't breed indoors. There's nothing in a house they want — they need the moisture and decaying organic matter of the forest floor — so they wander, die within days, and don't come back as a population.
Where they're common
Anywhere wooded. In Pennsylvania: Monroe, Pike, Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties through the Poconos and Lehigh Valley, and the wooded suburbs of Bucks and Montgomery. In New Jersey: Sussex, Warren, Morris, Hunterdon, Passaic and the wooded parts of Bergen. In New York: Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange, and the north shore of Suffolk County from Huntington out to the Port Jefferson woods. If your house backs onto trees, you'll see them.
How to tell them from a real problem
- German cockroach — small, half an inch, tan with two dark stripes behind the head, found in kitchens and bathrooms, often in numbers, with egg cases and droppings. This is the one that infests. Any German cockroach is a call.
- American cockroach — large, reddish brown, found in basements, drains and boiler rooms, mostly in buildings with sewer or steam connections. A few is a moisture problem; many is a program.
- Pennsylvania wood roach — large, brown, pale wing edges, arrives in late spring, flies to lights, found near doors and windows, no droppings or egg cases indoors, gone by midsummer.
What to do about wood roaches
Mostly, nothing that involves a pesticide. Switch porch lights to yellow bulbs or turn them off in May and June. Move firewood off the house and off the ground. Pull mulch back from the foundation. Fix screens and door sweeps. If they're getting in through a specific gap, seal it. Where they're arriving in real numbers at a wooded property, an inspection and crack-and-crevice treatment at the entry points is reasonable; broadcast spraying the yard is not.
When to call
If the roach is small and in the kitchen, or you're seeing them in daylight in numbers, or there are droppings and egg cases — that's not a wood roach, and it won't fix itself. Rest Easy identifies the species first and treats cockroaches with gel baits, insect growth regulators and crack-and-crevice treatment where they live. A phone quote is free. Call 888-927-9842 or request a cockroach quote online.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the big brown cockroach flying into my house in spring?
- Almost certainly a male Pennsylvania wood cockroach, an outdoor species that flies to lights in May and June. They wander indoors by accident and don't breed inside.
- Do Pennsylvania wood roaches infest houses?
- No. They need the moisture and decaying matter of leaf litter and woodpiles. Indoors they die within days and don't establish a population.
- How can I tell a wood roach from a German cockroach?
- Wood roaches are about an inch long, brown with pale wing edges, and show up near doors and lights in late spring. German cockroaches are half an inch, tan with two dark stripes, and live in kitchens and bathrooms year-round, leaving droppings and egg cases.
- How do I keep wood roaches out?
- Reduce outdoor lighting in late spring or switch to yellow bulbs, move firewood and mulch away from the house, repair screens and door sweeps, and seal gaps at entry points.
- Where are Pennsylvania wood roaches found?
- Across wooded parts of Pennsylvania (the Poconos, Lehigh Valley, Bucks and Montgomery counties), New Jersey (Sussex, Warren, Morris, Hunterdon, Passaic, Bergen) and New York (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, and Suffolk County's north shore).
- When should I call an exterminator for cockroaches?
- When the roaches are small and in the kitchen or bathroom, seen in daylight or in numbers, or there are droppings and egg cases. Those are signs of German cockroaches, which do infest and require treatment.