the palmetto bug

The temperature is dropping here in the Tampa Bay area, so you may soon be seeing more of the beautiful Palmetto Bug.

Newcomers to the area (Yankees) call them Cockroaches, and rightly so, because it is also known as the American cockroach. But the Palmetto Bug is a Florida favorite – I don’t know of anyone who does not like these lovable little critters. You’ve seen her now and again, usually in the middle of the night on your way to the kitchen. You will turn on a light and watch as a large dark spot on the floor scurries off to a cabinet.

Did I say “scurries”? It might be more accurate to say “haul ass.” The Palmetto Bug is one of the fastest insects known to man. In 1991, a Periplaneta americana cockroach was measured running at a speed of 5.4 km/h. That means that for one second, he passed a distance 50 times greater than the length of its body. To achieve a similar result, a man of average height would have to run at a speed of 330 km/h – think China’s 205 mph bullet train.

I know you relish the moments each time you catch a glimpse of an adorable Palmetto Bug. They really don’t want to be seen, and will hide during the daylight, and only come out at night to forage for food and water. With her pair of large eyes, each with over 2000 individual lenses, she is a very active night animal that shuns light.

For an insect, the Palmetto Bug is quite large, and ranges in size from about an inch and a half to the size of a Volkswagen. She can also somehow fit her huge, shapely body into small cracks and under doors.

Speaking of sexy, adult Palmetto Bugs can live up to one year, during which females produce an average of 150 young. Those kiddie roaches emerge from eggs in 6 to 8 weeks and require 6 to 12 months to mature.

Most of the year, these cuddly insects hang out in your landscape, reaching high numbers in the moist, shaded leaf litter under your trees and shrubs, in rotting stumps or logs, or in planters. Little Palmies may also congregate under roof overhangs and in the gutter, where leaves and other debris provide both food and shelter.

But in the winter, they are welcomed inside all of our houses. Like that other lovable creature – the Canadian Snowbird – the Palmetto Bug prefers temperatures over the mid-eighties. They want dark places with high humidity, such as your kitchen, bathroom, and maybe the laundry room – usually around pipes and drains.

So now is the time to catch a quick glimpse of one of the world’s most beloved creatures. Step lively though, as if you accidentally step on a Palmetto Bug barefoot while wandering around in the middle of the night, the crunkle-crack of a pregnant cockroach will quickly turn into an ooze you won’t soon forget. You are better off taking an empty shoe and accidentally whacking the gorgeous wonder of nature.

More about Palmetto Bugs:

• UF IFAS Extension: Cockroaches and their management
• Wikipedia – American Cockroach