# Bug experts: is this a cockroach?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 12, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738 "2003-11-12T01:49:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Kansas\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Man)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/1 "2003-11-12T01:49:30Z")
Yuck! Found a fast crawling bug on the kitchen floor. Picture of the critter dead in my toilet is found here:
[www.geocities.com/wagar91/index.htm](http://www.geocities.com/wagar91/index.htm)
**Might it be a cockroach?**
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### Author:  [@Phage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phage)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/2 "2003-11-12T02:17:00Z")
That is not like any cockroach I have ever seen…
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### Author:  [@greyseal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greyseal)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/3 "2003-11-12T02:25:55Z")
I’m no entomologist, but…
It’s almost certainly not a cockroach. Looks like some sort of fly (order Diptera), I think.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/4 "2003-11-12T02:41:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I’m no entomologist, but…
>
> It’s almost certainly not a cockroach. Looks like some sort of fly (order Diptera), I think.
Neither am I an entomologist. But it looks like a roach to me. Check out the flat, segmented abdomen and the lonf antennae. The head looks like the ones on some kinds of roaches I’ve seen.
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### Author:  [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/5 "2003-11-12T02:50:30Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by greyseal \*
> \*\*I’m no entomologist, but… \*\*
Having seen a few squished roaches in my day I’m going to say roach. Coackroaches do have non functional (I think) wings that generally stay tucked away.
Head and legs look right, wings resemble some cockroach wings I have seen, body looks probable despite obvious deformity. Description of a high speed crawler makes a solid confirmation for me. I can’t think of many other high speed crawlers that look like that
Looks like a roach dude.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/6 "2003-11-12T02:58:02Z")
It appears to be the notorious 404 bug.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/7 "2003-11-12T05:06:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Coackroaches do have **non functional** (I think) wings
You’ve never been to New Orleans, have you? 😉
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### Author:  [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/8 "2003-11-12T05:21:54Z")
'fraid it is.
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### Author:  [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/9 "2003-11-12T06:12:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \*
> \*\*You’ve never been to New Orleans, have you? 😉 \*\*
Why am I getting the idea that the dock defense scene in Matrix Revolution was inspired by children with BB guns shooting at Louisiana giant flying cockroaches.
Take that! POP,POP,POP.
and that POP,POP,POP,POP.
too many of them…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
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### Author:  [@Kansas\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Man)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/10 "2003-11-12T14:58:45Z")
Thanks for the replies. Regarding the wings, they sticking out due to the trauma that surrounded its death. It didn’t look like it had wings when it was scurrying across my white-tiled kitchen floor.
Anyway, the extermination for the building came by and put some gel around the edges of the floor. He said he didn’t see any evidence of an infestation. So, it was a rogue roach. Now it’s a dead roach. R.I.P.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/11 "2003-11-12T15:06:51Z")
A related question:
“Look, it’s a cockroach.”
“No, it’s a water bug.”
Why do people call cockroaches “water bugs”? (Note, I am not talking about water boatmen or other aquatic insects.) I know that roaches often live in wet environments, but why not call a roach a roach? Is it because finding a “water bug” in your house is more acceptable than finding a “cockroach”?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/12 "2003-11-12T15:09:38Z")
Definitely a cockroach, most likely a [German Cockroach](http://www.geocities.com/wagar91/index.htm), one of several introduced species found in the U.S.
Some household cockroachs, such as the German and American, have functional wings. Others, like the Oriental, do not.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/13 "2003-11-12T17:23:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Kansas Man \*
> \*\*So, it was a rogue roach. Now it’s a dead roach. R.I.P. \*\*
Is it true that for every one that you see, there’s about two hundred more hiding somewhere in your walls?
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/14 "2003-11-12T20:35:13Z")
rogue roach. Tee hee. I think they call those “scouts”. Or maybe forward observers.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/15 "2003-11-12T21:01:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> A related question:
>
> “Look, it’s a cockroach.”
>
> “No, it’s a water bug.”
>
> Why do people call cockroaches “water bugs”? (Note, I am not talking about water boatmen or other aquatic insects.) I know that roaches often live in wet environments, but why not call a roach a roach? Is it because finding a “water bug” in your house is more acceptable than finding a “cockroach”?
Here people like my mother swear they’re palmetto bugs. Madam, I know a giant flying cockroach when I see one.
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### Author:  [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/16 "2003-11-12T21:25:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \*
> \*\*A related question:
>
> “Look, it’s a cockroach.”
>
> “No, it’s a water bug.”
>
> Why do people call cockroaches “water bugs”? (Note, I am not talking about water boatmen or other aquatic insects.) I know that roaches often live in wet environments, but why not call a roach a roach? Is it because finding a “water bug” in your house is more acceptable than finding a “cockroach”? \*\*
Heh. The wife and I were in Maui one time at a local restaurant, and this tiny bush next to our table was CRAWLING with them. They were the flying kind as well. When I asked the waiter if we could be seated away from the swarming cockroaches, he said “Oh, those are potato bugs.” So I said, “Oh. Can we be seated away from the swarming potato bugs?”
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### Author:  [@hansolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansolo)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/17 "2003-11-12T21:30:10Z")
its a roach. a german roach like Colibri said.
in new york they have the big black nasty ones from what i have seen. i lived inboston for 20 years and the only roachs i saw were the small brown ones like in your photo.
i never saw a big black nasty one
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/18 "2003-11-12T21:32:27Z")
**Kansas Man** ’s photo looks like a roach, for sure. But **Colibri** ’s? I don’t know. Hmmm.
Peace,
mangeorge
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### Author:  [@greyseal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greyseal)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/19 "2003-11-12T22:35:00Z")
Fine, I’ll accept defeat gracefully. I’ve never seen a roach like that, though.
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by \ ***Johnny L.A.**
> A related question:
>
> “Look, it’s a cockroach.”
>
> “No, it’s a water bug.”
>
> Why do people call cockroaches “water bugs”? (Note, I am not talking about water boatmen or other aquatic insects.) I know that roaches often live in wet environments, but why not call a roach a roach? Is it because finding a “water bug” in your house is more acceptable than finding a “cockroach”?
I’ve noticed this as well. It seems to be an L.A. phenomenon. I’ve seen some enormous roaches (three inches long, anyone?), and they were pooh-poohed away as merely “water bugs.”
They’re amazingly hardy, too. I dropped a twenty pound tote on one (flat-bottomed), lifted it, and watched the critter scurry away.
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-experts-is-this-a-cockroach/212738/20 "2003-11-12T22:50:56Z")
They’re called water bugs in Bakersfield, too. The large, darker colored ones. Of course, _Bakersfield_ is itself a L. A. phenomenon.
“Dang, Ma. Ol’ Nellie’s swappin’ holes. Don’t think she’s gonna git over the grapevine.”
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