Brown-banded Cockroach
Hides higher up and further from water than other species, so it turns up in living rooms and bedrooms rather than only kitchens.
Supella longipalpa
- Length
- 10–14 mm
- Colour
- Brownish-buff, with a chestnut-brown to black face and abdomen tip
- Scientific name
- Supella longipalpa
How to identify it
Two brownish-yellow bands cross the wings in both nymphs and adults. The side edges of the pronotum are transparent while the centre stays dark.
Unlike most cockroaches it is often seen during the day, and it flies — adults will flutter around lights. It also feeds on book bindings and wallpaper paste.
Life cycle and behaviour
Why this species behaves the way it does, and what that means for how long treatment takes.
- The 5 mm egg capsule holds 16–18 eggs. The female carries it for 24–36 hours, then glues it to a hidden surface.
- Capsules incubate 6–10 weeks, and nymphs take about five months to mature.
- A female produces around 14 capsules in a lifetime, most of them over the summer. Adults live about ten months.
- Where German and Brown-banded cockroaches share a space and food runs short, the German cockroach tends to win out.
Where we find it
The harbourage points we check first on a Brown-banded Cockroach call.
Furniture, bedding, and behind picture frames
Inside ceiling light fixtures, televisions, and electronics
Old clothes cupboards, bookshelves, and behind wallpaper
High crevices in heated rooms — it prefers around 26 °C
How cockroaches are actually controlled
Cockroaches need food, water, and shelter. Removing any one of them puts the population under stress, and that does more long-term good than spraying ever will.
Cut the water first
Condensation on a cold water pipe is enough to sustain a colony on its own. Fixing leaks and bringing humidity down removes the hardest resource for them to replace.
Close the harbourage
Cockroaches are thigmotactic — they settle in cracks tight enough to touch their backs and bellies at once. Caulking crevices around plumbing, cabinets, outlets, and countertops takes those spaces away permanently.
Clean before treating, not after
Residual product applied to greasy or dirty surfaces is close to useless. Degreasing and HEPA vacuuming first both removes insects physically and lets the treatment work as intended.
Monitor to find the hotspots
Traps behind the fridge, under the sink, inside cabinet voids, and in bathroom vanities show where the population actually sits, so treatment goes where it counts instead of everywhere.
Source: Ontario Pesticide Training & Certification — Appendix A: Pests of Structures, and Appendix B: IPM for Structural Pests.
Other Cockroach Control species
Not sure which one you have? Compare the others we treat in Ontario.
German Cockroach
The most common and most prolific cockroach in Ontario buildings, and the one behind the majority of kitchen and bathroom infestations.
Oriental Cockroach
The damp-basement cockroach. Slower and less wary than the others, and the one species that does not want a warm, dry room.
American Cockroach
The largest cockroach found in Ontario, most often a commercial problem in kitchens, bakeries, and heated utility tunnels.
Pennsylvania Wood Cockroach
An outdoor species that wanders into homes and cottages. It will not establish an indoor infestation, which changes the response entirely.
Send us a photo and we'll identify it
Correct identification decides the treatment. A licensed technician will confirm the species before anything is applied.