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Photo#33670
Florida woods cockroach - Eurycotis floridana

Florida woods cockroach - Eurycotis floridana
Lady Lake, Lake County, Florida, USA
October 3, 2005
Size: 5cm
We have always called these Palmetto bugs, could someone tell me the true name?

Eurycotis Floridana
That specimen appears to be the "Florida woods cockroach", often referred to by native Floridians as a "Palmetto Bug".

Tourists, transplants, and non-natives, will mistakenly refer to the brown cockroach, American cockroach, etc, or *any* cockroach, as a palmetto bug.

These are found in Florida, coastal areas of Alabama, and in the Caribbean. A tropical or sub-tropical species.

See this link from the University of Florida: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG225

Other supporting links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurycotis_floridana
http://www.bugsincyberspace.com/roaches/eurycotis_floridana.html
http://bugguide.net/node/view/33670/bgpage


A Quote that describes it very well:

The roach that Florida crackers (natives) call palmetto bugs is actually a large wingless, reddish black, armor plated roach that is known for inhabiting saw-palmetto fan palms and cabbage palms more than anywhere else.
They are often mistaken for the American cockroach and the Australian cockroach.

Old timers called the Eurycotis Floridana "palmetto bugs" when they were cutting "swamp cabbage" (heart of palmettos and palms) for food. The most distinguishing characteristic of the true palmetto bug is it's foul smell it emits when disturbed. This is a sickening smell that smells like rotten palmetto berries where they live. Some old timers refer to them as them "darn stinkin palmetto bugs". They do not fly and are also referred to as "skunk roaches"

Source: http://www.epestsupply.com/cockroaches.htm

Thank You and I hope that was helpful,
- Tony
http://articles.cranium-creations.com

I think yours
looks more like the FL Woods Cockroach, Eurycotis floridana. See this site for comparison photo.

 
yes,
looks much more like this one, I know it's not the other one, we have plenty of those too. Thank you very much for your help.

 
We have so many roaches in FL,
it seems a lot of people down here call them all Palmetto Bugs. It makes them seem a little less repulsive, I guess!

 
Thanks everyone,
Roaches don't bother me so much, as long as they stay outside, especially when you live with monster roaches.

Palmetto Bugs
are AKA American Cockroaches. See Guide Page. With that said, I don't know if your specimen is one.

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