Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Blattella germanica
cucaracha, German Cockroach
Scavenger; a species found in and around human habitation; collected in May-June, November and December. There is no human habitation on Española, so the early Española record (Hebard, 1920) may have come from the ship of the collectors. I have found the species to be common on boats catering to the tourist trade operating out of Santa Cruz, and in the buildings in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, There are no records of this species having established itself on any other island.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Blattodea
Superfamily
Blaberoidea
Family
Blattellidae
Genus
Blattella
Species
germanica
Taxon category: Accepted
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1920
Mode of introduction: Accidental
Introduction Pathway: Stowaway
Subpathway: Hitchhiker on transport vehicles/cargo
Introduced status: Human dependent
Invasive status: Unlikely to become invasive
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Espanola, Santa Cruz
- Peck, S.B. (2001) Smaller Orders of Insects of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador: Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 278 pp.
- Peck, S.B. Heraty, J., Landry, B. & Sinclair, B.J. (1998) Introduced insect fauna of an oceanic archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Am. Entomol. 44: 218-237.
- Peck, S.B. Roth, L.M. (1992) Cockroaches of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, with descriptions of three new species (Insecta: Blattodea). Canadian Journal of Zoology 70(12): 2202-2217.
- Hebard, M. (1920) Expedition of the Calfornia Academy of Sciences to the Galapagos Islands, 1905-1906. 17. Dermaptera and Orthoptera. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series 2(17): 311-346.
- Peck, S.B. (1996) Diversity and distribution of the orthopteroid insects of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74: 1497-1510.
- Linsley, E.G. Usinger, R.L. (1966) Insects of the Galápagos Islands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences Fourth Series 33(7): 113-196.
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This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Blattella germanica", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=5614. Accessed 28 April 2025.