Bugs That Look Like Cockroaches

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Bugs That Look Like Cockroaches

In the United States, there are four main species of indoor cockroach: the German, American, Oriental, and Brown-banded cockroach. While these species of cockroach differ from one another in various ways and need to be identified by their own characteristics, there are certain characteristics that are clear indicators that an individual insect is, in fact, a cockroach and not some other bug species. All cockroaches have flattened, broad bodies that include long hind legs and elongated antennae on their heads. Cockroaches have six legs, each with tiny sensory hairs, and adult roaches have wings that fold flat on their backs. Most cockroaches you will find in your home are either brown or black and will be between 0.07 inches to 3 inches in length. 

Other Bug Species That Resemble Cockroaches

Here are the most common insects that are often confused for cockroaches:

Crickets

Crickets, like cockroaches, are dark brown to black in color like cockroaches, but have more elongated or cylindrical bodies unlike roaches who have more oval-shaped bodies, and the antennae of the cricket is typically longer than that of the roach. The feature that is the clearest differentiator from the roach is that crickets have long hind legs which they use to stridulate, or make a loud, trilling sound.

June Bugs

June bugs share a common color with many roaches in that they are reddish-brown to black. They are rounder than cockroaches and fringed antennae that look like eyelashes. Unlike cockroaches, who have a primary diet of garbage, rotting animals and feces, June bugs eat leaves and other plant material. 

Ground Beetle

Beetles and roaches are probably the most similar in appearance. Not all beetles and cockroaches look alike—there are over 400,000 beetle species of beetle in the world. But several species of ground beetle do look like roaches. Ground beetles (of which there are over 2,000 species) are characterized by their small heads, hard wings and their black color. They are most often confused for Oriental cockroaches which are similarly sized and colored dark black like the ground beetle. 

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