Pycnoscelus surinamensis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The Surinam cockroach or greenhouse cockroach (Pycnoscelus surinamensis) is a species of burrowing cockroach. It is a common plant pest endemic to the Indomalayan realm that has spread to tropical and into subtropical regions around the world, and in isolated populations to temperate climates where protective habitat such as greenhouses provide shelter for individuals inadvertently shipped in the soil of plants. Its populations are almost exclusively female, and it reproduces through parthenogenesis, having evolved several clonal strains from its sexual progenitor P. indicus.
Adults are around 18–25 mm (0.71–0.98 in) in length, and have dark brown to black bodies with shiny paler brown wings. The front edge of the pronotum (head shield) has a pale white band. While males are rarely produced, male adults have longer wings than females, completely covering the abdomen, although both sexes are poor flyers.
Nymphs are around 4.5 mm (0.18 in) long at birth, translucent white with orange-brown mandibles and spines, and darker eye spots than the rest of the head. The exoskeleton gradually hardens on exposure to air, becoming a glossy brown in 5 to 6 hours, while its underside... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Surinam Cockroach sighting in Kuala Lumpur on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 224th most-seen of the 323 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, August, October and December–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Surinam Cockroach in Kuala Lumpur on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–July, September and November, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Surinam Cockroach sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
41st of 52
Of the 52 cities where we can rate Surinam Cockroach sightings, Kuala Lumpur ranks 41st at about 10%. The best odds are in Tel Aviv (Israel, about 20%), Goiânia (Brazil, about 20%) and Fortaleza (Brazil, about 20%).
Same order: Blattodea
The closest relatives of the Surinam Cockroach that you can see in Kuala Lumpur (order Blattodea, Cockroaches and Termites) are Sundablatta sexpunctata (about 10%), American Cockroach (about 10%) and Pseudophyllodromia laticeps (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Surinam Cockroach is recorded against all the insects logged in Kuala Lumpur (7 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
