Bug ID help!

[D Palm]

My Bismarck blew over during the last hurricane. I had it propped up with some home made stakes and a strap. I was readjusting them and this bug popped out…I hope this is not chewing on the palm. Any insights?

[Silas_Sancona]

5 minutes ago, D Palm said:

My Bismarck blew over during the last hurricane. I had it propped up with some home made stakes and a strap. I was readjusting them and this bug popped out…I hope this is not chewing on the palm. Any insights?

Surinam Cockroach, Pycnoscelus surinamensis..  A decomposer of ..decomposing organic material..

[D Palm]

Thank you @Silas_Sancona. It did not look like a palmetto bug but some kind of roach or beatle. Do these harm the palm?

I put down a systemic insecticide drench on all my palms after I found him as we had some really bad cold weather last week.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, D Palm said:

Thank you @Silas_Sancona. It did not look like a palmetto bug but some kind of roach or beatle. Do these harm the palm?

I put down a systemic insecticide drench on all my palms after I found him as we had some really bad cold weather last week.

They mainly consume decomposing plant material ( fallen leaves, etc.. ) but can occasionally nibble on soft leaved seedlings, new leaves but have never heard of damage being significant. I have them here and they don't bother anything.  With palms, the moist and warm shelter provided in the spaces between where leafstalks attach to the trunk are a perfect hide out for them ( when not hanging out in an underground burrow..

Being a burrowing sp. ( instead of the type of Cockroach that hangs out out in the open, IE: Palmetto Bugs, American or Australian Brown Roaches.. ) i rarely see them roaming around unless it is really wet / humid, or i move around pots / branches i've left sitting on the ground for awhile..

Interesting fact about the species.. All specimens encountered outside of where they are native are Female and reproduce asexually ( ..Fertile embryos produced from unfertilized eggs.. )  Any males that are produced are 100% non functional / fertile.

If control is needed, you'd use a granular product vs. a systemic.  As mentioned, you shouldn't have much ..if any issues w/ them munching on desired plants, esp. if there are plenty of soft leaved weedy things and grass around to consume first.

[Looking Glass]

I don’t know how many types of roaches are in Florida, but it’s a lot.  They all have different phases of lifecycle appearance also.  No matter what I’m doing in the yard, they are running for cover if I am disturbing things.  Leaf bases, mulch, pots, pavers…. They are everywhere.   I don’t think they harm the plants.    I try to remember to spray around all the doors and windows and home foundation monthly though.   They get the yard, but I get the house.   

[Silas_Sancona]

8 minutes ago, Looking Glass said:

I don’t know how many types of roaches are in Florida, but it’s a lot.  They all have different phases of lifecycle appearance also.  No matter what I’m doing in the yard, they are running for cover if I am disturbing things.  Leaf bases, mulch, pots, pavers…. They are everywhere.   I don’t think they harm the plants.    I try to remember to spray around all the doors and windows and home foundation monthly though.   They get the yard, but I get the house.   

We have several -native and introduced, etc.. " new-er comers" American and Australian browns are the most obvious ( Our "Monsters", very easy to see roaming around ) esp. during the summer when there can be dozens hanging out on the block walls on hot / humid nights..  last summer when i cut down one of two badly damaged mulberry out back, there were literally dozens of these guys crawling around on the tree / out from the damaged areas on the / under the trunk.. Know for sure these guys will much on dried out leaves, and as big as they are, you can hear them eating at times.. That said, rare that either enter the house ..mainly because i'll also spray around the perimeter to keep them ..and any Black Widows out of the house. At most, i might find 2 or 3 Surinam Roaches wander indoors each year..

Try to keep perimeter spraying to a minimum since there are wasps ( Sting-less,  "Blue-eyed " Hatchet Wasp sp. ) that are pretty effective at controlling them ( egg parasites ) and i'll often find the wasps scittering around on the walls of the house / block walls looking for cockroach egg cases ( Technically referred to as Ootheca. Same w/ egg cases produced by Praying Mantis, some other insects ).

[Looking Glass]

25 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

We have several -native and introduced, etc.. " new-er comers" American and Australian browns are the most obvious ( Our "Monsters", very easy to see roaming around ) esp. during the summer when there can be dozens hanging out on the block walls on hot / humid nights..  last summer when i cut down one of two badly damaged mulberry out back, there were literally dozens of these guys crawling around on the tree / out from the damaged areas on the / under the trunk.. Know for sure these guys will much on dried out leaves, and as big as they are, you can hear them eating at times.. That said, rare that either enter the house ..mainly because i'll also spray around the perimeter to keep them ..and any Black Widows out of the house. At most, i might find 2 or 3 Surinam Roaches wander indoors each year..

Try to keep perimeter spraying to a minimum since there are wasps ( Sting-less,  "Blue-eyed " Hatchet Wasp sp. ) that are pretty effective at controlling them ( egg parasites ) and i'll often find the wasps scittering around on the walls of the house / block walls looking for cockroach egg cases ( Technically referred to as Ootheca. Same w/ egg cases produced by Praying Mantis, some other insects ).

An occasional a palmetto/American squeezes under the sliders here or there, but it doesn’t get far if I keep up the perimeter.   If I’m neglectful, I’ll start to see them running up the walls outside at night.  Maybe once a year I may have to treat the lawn for chinch bugs or grubs, and when the granules go down, Surinams pour out of the lawn before I can ever apply the water.  In and under pots, rocks and leave are what look like wood cockroaches too, but they seem to keep to themselves.   

The real reason for spraying for me is ants though.  Tiny “sugar ants” of some kind are relentless.   They are always finding ways in, in their little trails.   I bait them with Terro, then calk tiny spaces and spray the area after the bait kicks in.  

[D Palm]

Usually palmetto bugs do not want to go inside. German cockroaches are the small nasty ones that can’t duplicate extremely fast. I am glad to hear it’s not a boring weevil or beetle.

[Looking Glass]

If you have those little German cockroaches, you have a major problem on your hands.  Palmetto bugs on the other hand, mostly just wander through occasionally.   Late nights, back in the downtown condo, I often enjoyed a glass of wine out on the balcony of my 15th floor apartment.   That’s when I learned, Florida is a look before you sip state…

 

I gave that sucker a hard, “flick” into the midnight abyss.   He took flight, did a mid-air u-turn and crash landed with a “thump” on someone’s 14th floor balcony.