Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

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Periplaneta australasiae (Fabricius, 1775)

Cucaracha australiana, Australian cockroach

Scavenger; frequently occurring around houses; littoral to humid forest zones; abundant at night on trees in transition zone forest on Santa Cruz; collected January-November.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Blattodea

Superfamily
Blattoidea

Family
Blattidae

Genus
Periplaneta

Species
australasiae

Taxon category: Accepted

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 1889

Mode of introduction: Accidental

Introduction Pathway: Stowaway

Subpathway: Hitchhiker on transport vehicles/cargo

Introduced status: Naturalized

Invasive status: Unlikely to become invasive

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: Floreana, Isabela, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz

References

  • 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.
  • Jaramillo, P. Reyes, D. & Yánez, P. (2005) Arthopods in the Charles Darwin Research Station herbarium, Galápagos, during 1999-2001. GALAPAGOS RESEARCH. Noticias de Galápagos. 63: 23-25.
  • 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.
  • Parkin, P. Parkin D.T., Ewing, A.W. & Ford, H.A. (1972) A report on the arthropods collected by the Edinburgh University Galapagos Islands Expedition, 1968. The Pan-pacific Entomologist 48: 100-107.
  • 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.
  • 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. (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. (1996) Diversity and distribution of the orthopteroid insects of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74: 1497-1510.

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Periplaneta australasiae", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=6779. Accessed 31 October 2026.