Silhouette: Didier Descouens · PhyloPic
Blaberus discoidalis
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Blaberus discoidalis, commonly known as the discoid cockroach, tropical cockroach, West Indian leaf cockroach, false death's head cockroach, Haitian cockroach, and drummer, is a cockroach native to Central America of the "giant cockroach" family, Blaberidae.
The adult is around 35–45 mm (1.4–1.8 in) in length, and is tan with a dark brown to black patch on its pronotum. The juvenile is brown with tan speckles, and matures to adulthood in 4–5 months. Adults have wings but are not active fliers, and they can not climb smooth vertical surfaces, simplifying their care in captivity.
Blaberus discoidalis is called the false death's head cockroach because of its superficial resemblance to the death's head cockroach, Blaberus craniifer. Blaberus discoidalis is found in Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico (Vieques Island), Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and Florida.
The movement of B. discoidalis runs relatively inefficiently – wasting movement as it runs. It can move about 25 of its body lengths per second, around half the speed of common cockroach Periplaneta americana. In laboratory tests, B. discoidalis cockroaches were... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masaya Volcano National Park | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba |
No species of the same family or order lives in Masaya Volcano National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other insects.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Discoid Roach sighting in Masaya Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 22nd most-seen of the 38 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Discoid Roach in Masaya Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–March, July–September and November, the lowest months. That is one of Masaya Volcano National Park's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain against 15 mm in January.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Discoid Roach sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Masaya Volcano National Park, in our data
Masaya Volcano National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Discoid Roach sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Discoid Roach is recorded against all the insects logged in Masaya Volcano National Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
