What Cockroaches Look Like
A good way to understand what cockroaches look like is to look at their body shape. Cockroaches are flat-bodied insects with six legs and a thorax composed of three segments. The abdomen contains ten segments. Wings are present on some species but are vestigial in others. Males have larger wings than females. They also have distinctive heads.
Cockroaches are flat oval-shaped insects that are mostly reddish in color, but some can also be black or tan. They can grow up to three inches long. Their antennae are long, and their legs have spikes. Despite their appearance, cockroaches are extremely dangerous because they carry and spread a variety of pathogens. Some of these pathogens can cause serious diseases.
The head of a cockroach is covered by a hard shield called the pronotum. When you’re looking down at a cockroach, the pronotum is visible, but when you’re looking at the cockroach from above, the head is virtually hidden.
Cockroaches are commonly mistaken for other bugs. There are numerous species of beetles and other insects that look similar to cockroaches. Some species look like cockroaches, including the June bug, May beetle, and the July beetle. Although they look similar, beetles and cockroaches have differences that make them easier to identify.