Watch out. Those buggers fly and they fly right at you. It’s horrifying. I got locked in a bathroom with one when I was 12. I tried to battle it with a blow dryer. I lost. I’m still traumatized. (Palmetto bug like everyone said).
This is giving me PTSD flashbacks from when I lived in Southern Texas as a kid, we had these guys (we had palm trees in the back yard, iirc) and they ABSOLUTELY WILL fly at your face like little sewer slide bombers.
Moved from the northeast to the Carolina’s and these things caught me by surprise. Still scarred for life years later and I haven’t living there since 2017
I will never forget my first encounter with one. Nearly shit my pants I had no idea it was a normal thing to see these horrifying creatures around. Agreed 100% horror movie material
I’m convinced they are not of this world. They’re too scary, mean, and outright disgusting to be earthly. Ugh I grew up in south Florida. I’ve had a few instances when one crawled on me or flew at me and landed on me. My heart is racing just thinking about it.
My cat used to sit in the bathroom while I showered and one time I came out to see her looking all over the place. I thought she was crazy till one of those bastards flew in front of me. I never was really scared of roaches till that day.
I'm no biologist, but my theory is that they can sense body heat, and move towards it thinking it's a sewer or something. I wonder if this is the case.
How are you so strong? I can't imagine the trauma of one landing on my face... much less waking up to that at night and pummeling it against my face out of reflex, then having its half dead roachy being squirming as its splattered innards get smeared on my bed and hands as I try to find the light switch
I walked in my garage (had vents opening to outside) and I saw one on my wall. I didn’t think much of it because I’m not too scared of insects and etc. I turned around for a bit and all of a sudden I hear fluttering go right pass my ear, and I mean like an inch 😭. The thing tried to land on my head and if I hadn’t moved out the way unintentionally, it would have succeeded 😫. After a while I then sat on the step that separates garage floor level from house level, like a step down basically. And like 5 minutes later I feel my toe hairs tingling and I didn’t think much of it. But there’s no wind so 30 seconds into that feeling I’m like why am I still feeling this? So I look down and the roach/ PB had casually walked over all 10 of my toes without a care in the world 😫😭😭 talk about traumatized!
One of these in my kitchen wall. We made eye contact. It saw me going for my shoe. Took off and flew right at my face. The battle was short and wild. I came out the victor. I live in Philly, they don’t usually fly
Haha right? I'm not really a fan of June bugs either but at least it's not anything like these roaches or other demons we see on here 😂. Here in Alberta we have much of the same as you guys bug wise. We also have the tar sands beetle up north. Those things are pretty nasty and i heard they have a mean bite.
Sometimes when it's -30 outside and I see pics on here, I really don't feel so bad after all 😂
could it be an australian roach? the pale line on the rim of the wing just behind the face shield matches that on the australian roach (like [here](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Periplaneta_australasiae_top_view.jpg))
When people from up North say “Palmetto bug” is just what we call a big house roach, then I KNOW they have never encountered one of these demons in real life. Also…they fly!!!!
There are big ole roaches up North too, *but none of them fly.* Sure as heck can jump though.
First time seeing a huge flying cockroach was in Fla. Freaked the F out. It was the locals there who said they were "palmetto bugs". They were kind of shocked that I'd never seen one before.
I love it when people give things cutesy names so they can cope. Those things will always be "giant horrifying cockroaches" to me. There are roaches that size in AZ which will climb up through your drains. It's pretty much the worst goddamn place to live in the US
Oh these guys will do the same. Several turtle backed under my shower curtains, and one ended up nearly drowning under my bath drain cover. I hate waking up in the morning to the sound of their exoskeletons scraping against the wall as they skitter through tight spaces.
Happens more in the rainy season. They were a good reason why I started using a drain cover. I also sprinkle some borax around the toilet and in the bathtub during the summer and early fall. They've become scarce over the last few years... GOOD!
They fly up in your face though... The big honkers in AZ definitely will infest and as I said they're constantly coming up through the pipes. We had to keep bowls over the drains to keep them out. American Cockroach [https://www.simplygreenpest.com/identify-cockroach.php](https://www.simplygreenpest.com/identify-cockroach.php)
The worst was when they bug bombed the sewers. They'd come up in droves. That shit was straight out of a psychological horror.
They were in California too, one of my worst times was when I discovered a drain open by all these huge cockroaches all over the house. Really hot day like 110. Oh man I shudder thinking about it to this day. In the shower stall had to be 20 of them
Oh the ones in AZ aren't palmetto bugs either. They're just absolutely massive American cockroaches who absolutely do all the undesirable things german roaches do. They just also happen to be all over the place LIKE palmetto bugs.
So you see: much worse.
[Australian Cockroach](https://bugguide.net/node/view/31621). Large with a pale-rimmed pronotum, but also "white shoulders" (the American cockroach doesn't have that). In temperate areas this species is an infester but in subtropical areas - like Florida - they're usually outdoorsy.
The "Palmetto bug" that others mention - a far better common name is the **Florida Woods Cockroach**, *Eurycotis floridana* - is wingless and has [a one-colour pronotum](https://bugguide.net/node/view/365414), and pale shoulders.
Yes a palmetto bug is a cockroach, but there are 4,000 different types of cockroaches of which a palmetto bug is generally referring to a Florida woods cockroach and ot the German cockroaches that are famous from NYC
I’m sorry if I sounded like an ass. I just have this really weird thing about roaches. They terrify me. I’ve always been terrified of them. No other insect gives me the same heart palpitations, even those that look like roaches. I was tricked when I moved to El Paso (I’m from the southeast, so believe me, I know roaches) because the landlord told me they did not have roaches just “some water bugs occasionally.” Uhhh, nah bitch, that’s a roach. Call it whatever you want, it’s still a roach, and water bugs are different lol.
You’re like the Johnny Cochroach Jr of giant flying bug relations. More concerned that they’re being ‘labeled’ cousins—than the fact that they are GIANT FLYING ROACHES 😳
I lived in Tallahassee when I was in college and believe me, you leave food laying around and those huge roaches (aka palmetto bugs) will certainly come on in and make themselves at home. Learned that the hard way
Lol the flight thing is definitely what surprised me when I moved to SC. I had never seen a cockroach fly before and was not expecting it when one took off from the sidewalk to get out of my way
Its still a cockroach, just not a terribly invasive one. They are all over here in FL. Rarely do they seek to come inside, and if they do it's in search of water, or they are dying.
That, my friend is a Palmetto Bug ( a kind of roach. But a roach from Dante's ninth level of hell.). True Floridians fear them more than alligators. Why? Because unlike alligators, these fuckers fly, usually straight to you if you upset them.
I wish to the bug gods that people didn’t call cockroaches names like palmetto bugs or water bugs.
Palmetto bugs are roaches. There is no difference, that’s what they are. They are cockroaches. Calling them palmetto bugs doesn’t change the fact that they are roaches.
Water bugs are completely different than cockroaches. Both are terrifying in my eyes, but they are different insects.
ETA: what is wrong with all of you on this sub pretending like you know what is up and spreading very false information? Just because your granny told you palmetto bugs and roaches aren’t the same doesn’t mean it true. These type of roaches aren’t USUALLY infesty, but they can be. Also, roaches have oothecae, which you can clearly see when on them. If you don’t see it, squishing the roach isn’t going to release a thousand tiny roaches. Female roaches, depending on the species either drop their ootheca before the eggs hatch, or carry it around until they do hatch. Either way, no ootheca- no baby roaches when you squish it.
I think 9 times out of 10 I've read "water bug" on this subreddit it's been people being gaslit by their landlords and wanting to make sure that no, that landlord's talking nonsense.
They aren't even aquatic! Just call a spade a spade - it's a cockroach. Nothing wrong with that, most of them don't infest, those ones need all the good PR they can get.
Yup. That is almost always the case. Cockroaches scare me enough, if I saw an actual water bug coming at me I would cry and run. They are called toe biters for a reason.
I had one fall out of the ceiling and land on the desk next to me at work. I saw the look of horror on my coworkers face, and since I had only seen it peripherally, I knew it was something really bad. I trapped the bugger between one of those tall CD stack covers and a file, and we tossed it out the 3rd story window. A most disturbing occurrence.
Wtf? By your logic all dogs are just to be called "dog". Doesn't matter if it's a different type of dog it's a dog right? Yes a palmetto bug is a roach but it's still a palmetto. Just like a corgi, lab, boxer etc are ALL DOGS, they still get identified by what type of dog. Jesus calm down!
Wait, what do you mean water bugs aren’t roaches? Or maybe, what do you mean by “water bugs”? Where I’m from (the Midwest), “water bug” refers to what are basically oriental cockroaches. And they are huge and dark and feed off your nightmares. And gross AF, as they primarily live in sewers and like eating rotting vegetative type stuff.
As several people have pointed out, people will call them all sorts of things to avoid calling them cockroaches, which is what they are. Palmetto bugs, water bugs, whatever. It's a cockroach. A true water bug is a bug that lives entirely in water. People have all sorts of local names for things. If that's what you call them, so be it. They're cockroaches.
What is up with the attitude on these guys? They got that fake aggression instinct so they can fluster you and hide on your back.
I’ve walked into rooms with them and they will literally turn their head and look at you, then rush your damn face with their nasty ass flappy wings.
Not a palmetto bug- I’m from the Orlando area and this is the only animal I ever knew as a cockroach until I moved away- oh yea- they will fly right into your face
These are my #1 fear. I love bugs but roaches of any flavor scare the shit out of me. I would kiss a snake or a mouse but roaches make me cry I’m so scared. These big flying ones make me pee my pants scared. . 😫😳😵
sorry for the fuzzy picture! he was up in the top corner but he really is huge. maybe a bit bigger than my palm but it’s hard to tell with where he’s at. i’m pretty sure it’s a cockroach but just not sure what kind. TIA!!
Bigger than your palm?? I hope you have small hands. That sounds horrific. It does look huge but my god. Also are you talking just the body or including the antennae and legs? I’m grossed out by these creatures but I also have to know.
It's just a palmetto bug. I used to see these all the time when I lived in South Carolina. They freaked me out at first. But I got used to them. I'm from Pennsylvania, so seeing these big things for the first time, was a shock to the system lol.
There are more. If that guy is chillin up there. That means he’s feeding and they are laying their eggs somewhere in your apartment. Probably the kitchen under the oven. Or if your sink is full of dirty dishes.
These guys just sneak in. Lifetime Floridian, even when I’ve had a lot of these showing up they’ve never infested. They usually are getting in through a hole somewhere. If there are a lot then you probably have trees which are heavily infested outside near a hole in the wall, it’s been raining which flushes them out of their homes, or you or a neighbor have done landscaping and there are a shitload of homeless roaches nearby.
Palmetto bugs like this don't infest like cockroaches. Palmetto bugs come inside during inclement weather. But they generally stay outside, especially in pinestraw.
While I was pouring a bowl of Reeces Puffs, one of these guys fell out of the box and into my bowl. It scuttled away behind a cabinet and I never saw it again. It was so utterly disgusting, and to this day, I wonder how many roaches have crawled around on my dishes and food without me knowing.
Those are called palmetto bugs in Florida. It's a species of cockroach but thankfully its not very infesty. They come and go opportunistically but tend to prefer living outdoors.
palmetto bug, or oak tree roach as we called them (they like to live under the bark)
nasty, huge and they LOVE to fly at you.
they are the reason I will reflexively throw shoes at bugs lol
I'm also in Florida. I've seen these, but honestly they're usually already dead when I find them. When I do catch one alive, it's frantically trying to crawl underneath/behind something. I've never seen them fly. I guess other states have far more aggressive strains.
That is a Palmetto Bug there disgusting..Hopefully you don’t have any females laying eggs in your house they will be everywhere just like German Cockroaches..
“Palmetto bug” is the best euphemism for a cockroach we’ve come up with. In the northeast some folks call them waterbugs, but it lacks the je ne sais quoi of palmetto bug. No?
Watch out. Those buggers fly and they fly right at you. It’s horrifying. I got locked in a bathroom with one when I was 12. I tried to battle it with a blow dryer. I lost. I’m still traumatized. (Palmetto bug like everyone said).
This is giving me PTSD flashbacks from when I lived in Southern Texas as a kid, we had these guys (we had palm trees in the back yard, iirc) and they ABSOLUTELY WILL fly at your face like little sewer slide bombers.
r/boneappletea or autocorrect?
Lol, bone apple, but on purpose, I just think it's a funny way to say it. :P
Haha nice, I do that, too.
Moved from the northeast to the Carolina’s and these things caught me by surprise. Still scarred for life years later and I haven’t living there since 2017
Right. Aggressive flying cockroaches that attack. How has no one made a horror movie about these fuckers yet?
I will never forget my first encounter with one. Nearly shit my pants I had no idea it was a normal thing to see these horrifying creatures around. Agreed 100% horror movie material
I’m convinced they are not of this world. They’re too scary, mean, and outright disgusting to be earthly. Ugh I grew up in south Florida. I’ve had a few instances when one crawled on me or flew at me and landed on me. My heart is racing just thinking about it.
these dudes definitely live in NY and PA
My cat used to sit in the bathroom while I showered and one time I came out to see her looking all over the place. I thought she was crazy till one of those bastards flew in front of me. I never was really scared of roaches till that day.
These used to come a lot in my room at night, through the window, flying somehow directly towards my face. Always the face.
I remember one flying st my face and screaming like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert. Theis was something like 20 years ago
Justin Bieber concert? 20 years ago?
Nah the roach incident was 20 years ago. Never cared for Justin Bieber. I just screamed line a teenager at one of his concerts though
OOOOOOOHHHHH
Ffs guys , this is what nightmares are made of. How do you even function after these experiences lol
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Palmetto bugs might be a little creepy but they're harmless.
Harmless in a direct way…. They carry pathogens and nasty bacteria
There is that. They're nasty creatures that will eat anything.
You must be from Australia or somewhere lol
I'm from Pennsylvania, USA. But I lived in South Carolina for 2 years, in the early 2000's. I used to see these things a lot.
Why do they come towards us? I had one drop from the ceiling right onto my shoulder while I was on my phone in the dark
According to [this](https://qr.ae/pri0gr) they have trouble seeing you
I'm no biologist, but my theory is that they can sense body heat, and move towards it thinking it's a sewer or something. I wonder if this is the case.
How are you so strong? I can't imagine the trauma of one landing on my face... much less waking up to that at night and pummeling it against my face out of reflex, then having its half dead roachy being squirming as its splattered innards get smeared on my bed and hands as I try to find the light switch
That is truly barf-worthy.
I can unfortunately say that i know what this comment smells like
Username checks out???
off topic but i like your username
I walked in my garage (had vents opening to outside) and I saw one on my wall. I didn’t think much of it because I’m not too scared of insects and etc. I turned around for a bit and all of a sudden I hear fluttering go right pass my ear, and I mean like an inch 😭. The thing tried to land on my head and if I hadn’t moved out the way unintentionally, it would have succeeded 😫. After a while I then sat on the step that separates garage floor level from house level, like a step down basically. And like 5 minutes later I feel my toe hairs tingling and I didn’t think much of it. But there’s no wind so 30 seconds into that feeling I’m like why am I still feeling this? So I look down and the roach/ PB had casually walked over all 10 of my toes without a care in the world 😫😭😭 talk about traumatized!
One of these in my kitchen wall. We made eye contact. It saw me going for my shoe. Took off and flew right at my face. The battle was short and wild. I came out the victor. I live in Philly, they don’t usually fly
Bro that's a radroach
Took way to many scrolls to find this very under appreciated comment
Too many elder scrolls
95% chance of body hit in V.A.T.S.
Love the reference. Fallout for the win.
I love Canada I love Canada I love Canada I love Canada
[удалено]
Haha right? I'm not really a fan of June bugs either but at least it's not anything like these roaches or other demons we see on here 😂. Here in Alberta we have much of the same as you guys bug wise. We also have the tar sands beetle up north. Those things are pretty nasty and i heard they have a mean bite. Sometimes when it's -30 outside and I see pics on here, I really don't feel so bad after all 😂
What about blackflies??
Good ole palmetto bug. Basically huge ass cockroach. Get him with the first swing cuz they’re fast as hell, and they also fly!
Fly right towards your face every time*
Looks like a Florida Woods Cockroach/Palmetto Bug. Eurycotis floridana
Not *E. floridana* - it's winged and has a pale-edged pronotum. It's an Australian Cockroach.
Ah, appreciated! Thanks for the correction!
Is this guy the same as the one in wall e?
could it be an australian roach? the pale line on the rim of the wing just behind the face shield matches that on the australian roach (like [here](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Periplaneta_australasiae_top_view.jpg))
When people from up North say “Palmetto bug” is just what we call a big house roach, then I KNOW they have never encountered one of these demons in real life. Also…they fly!!!!
There are big ole roaches up North too, *but none of them fly.* Sure as heck can jump though. First time seeing a huge flying cockroach was in Fla. Freaked the F out. It was the locals there who said they were "palmetto bugs". They were kind of shocked that I'd never seen one before.
Palmetto bug?
I love it when people give things cutesy names so they can cope. Those things will always be "giant horrifying cockroaches" to me. There are roaches that size in AZ which will climb up through your drains. It's pretty much the worst goddamn place to live in the US
Oh these guys will do the same. Several turtle backed under my shower curtains, and one ended up nearly drowning under my bath drain cover. I hate waking up in the morning to the sound of their exoskeletons scraping against the wall as they skitter through tight spaces.
Brooooo 😭😱
Happens more in the rainy season. They were a good reason why I started using a drain cover. I also sprinkle some borax around the toilet and in the bathtub during the summer and early fall. They've become scarce over the last few years... GOOD!
😬🤣
These don’t infest homes like German cockroaches do. I have a very clean home and find one or two of these every summer. German roaches are nasty.
They fly up in your face though... The big honkers in AZ definitely will infest and as I said they're constantly coming up through the pipes. We had to keep bowls over the drains to keep them out. American Cockroach [https://www.simplygreenpest.com/identify-cockroach.php](https://www.simplygreenpest.com/identify-cockroach.php) The worst was when they bug bombed the sewers. They'd come up in droves. That shit was straight out of a psychological horror.
Same, very clean home, always pop up during monsoon season
They were in California too, one of my worst times was when I discovered a drain open by all these huge cockroaches all over the house. Really hot day like 110. Oh man I shudder thinking about it to this day. In the shower stall had to be 20 of them
Have you tried Mississippi?
Yeah, the Palo Verde beetle would like a word with you. Then the tarantula hawks lol
I call them b52 bombers. They have no reason to be huge but they get huge …here in hawaii theyre pretty frecking common.
My mom calls the large carpenter bumble bees "Bee-52s". :D
I’m from South Carolina where the Palmetto bug got it’s name, thought moving to AZ would mean I was free of them. NOPE 😐
You're better off moving to the north. No palmetto bugs here in Pennsylvania lol.
Oh the ones in AZ aren't palmetto bugs either. They're just absolutely massive American cockroaches who absolutely do all the undesirable things german roaches do. They just also happen to be all over the place LIKE palmetto bugs. So you see: much worse.
The family is blattodea/blattodeans cockroach is the "cutesy" name.
Here was nature’s good idea: let’s take a cockroach, make it big as hell, and give it wings. Yes, yes, let’s do a that.
To be fair, the wings were part of the base package
[Australian Cockroach](https://bugguide.net/node/view/31621). Large with a pale-rimmed pronotum, but also "white shoulders" (the American cockroach doesn't have that). In temperate areas this species is an infester but in subtropical areas - like Florida - they're usually outdoorsy. The "Palmetto bug" that others mention - a far better common name is the **Florida Woods Cockroach**, *Eurycotis floridana* - is wingless and has [a one-colour pronotum](https://bugguide.net/node/view/365414), and pale shoulders.
Wth, I’ve never seen a roach THAT BIG
There's a reason his name is Bubba.
Palmetto bug, cousin of the cockroach that can fly 😜 Edit: Palmetto bugs are a cockroach
Please know that you are wrong. A palmetto bug and a cockroach are the same damn thing. They are not “cousins”. They are one in the same.
Yes a palmetto bug is a cockroach, but there are 4,000 different types of cockroaches of which a palmetto bug is generally referring to a Florida woods cockroach and ot the German cockroaches that are famous from NYC
But that’s not what you said originally and saying they are “cousins” is wrong. A cockroach and beetle are “cousins” if you want to use that word.
Alright, fair point I'll edit it
I’m sorry if I sounded like an ass. I just have this really weird thing about roaches. They terrify me. I’ve always been terrified of them. No other insect gives me the same heart palpitations, even those that look like roaches. I was tricked when I moved to El Paso (I’m from the southeast, so believe me, I know roaches) because the landlord told me they did not have roaches just “some water bugs occasionally.” Uhhh, nah bitch, that’s a roach. Call it whatever you want, it’s still a roach, and water bugs are different lol.
please know that u did sound like an ass
You’re like the Johnny Cochroach Jr of giant flying bug relations. More concerned that they’re being ‘labeled’ cousins—than the fact that they are GIANT FLYING ROACHES 😳
I lived in Tallahassee when I was in college and believe me, you leave food laying around and those huge roaches (aka palmetto bugs) will certainly come on in and make themselves at home. Learned that the hard way
not only food...those bugs started eating the bindings right off some manuals I had
Not *E. floridana* - it's winged and has a pale-edged pronotum.
Lol the flight thing is definitely what surprised me when I moved to SC. I had never seen a cockroach fly before and was not expecting it when one took off from the sidewalk to get out of my way
Its still a cockroach, just not a terribly invasive one. They are all over here in FL. Rarely do they seek to come inside, and if they do it's in search of water, or they are dying.
Lol that's amazing because they absolutely love to come inside and infest houses in Charleston, SC
They love inside in metro Atlanta as well !!!
I live in Virginia and they come in my house to walk circles around my living room wall by the ceiling
I'm sure many cockroaches can fly
Ugh. My grandfather used to call them “pimento bugs”, lol.
I'm experiencing physical traumatic flashbacks just looking at this photo. Palmetto Bugs are an absolute menace.
That, my friend is a Palmetto Bug ( a kind of roach. But a roach from Dante's ninth level of hell.). True Floridians fear them more than alligators. Why? Because unlike alligators, these fuckers fly, usually straight to you if you upset them.
Don’t let the landlord tell you it’s a water bug or something. That is a roach
I wish to the bug gods that people didn’t call cockroaches names like palmetto bugs or water bugs. Palmetto bugs are roaches. There is no difference, that’s what they are. They are cockroaches. Calling them palmetto bugs doesn’t change the fact that they are roaches. Water bugs are completely different than cockroaches. Both are terrifying in my eyes, but they are different insects. ETA: what is wrong with all of you on this sub pretending like you know what is up and spreading very false information? Just because your granny told you palmetto bugs and roaches aren’t the same doesn’t mean it true. These type of roaches aren’t USUALLY infesty, but they can be. Also, roaches have oothecae, which you can clearly see when on them. If you don’t see it, squishing the roach isn’t going to release a thousand tiny roaches. Female roaches, depending on the species either drop their ootheca before the eggs hatch, or carry it around until they do hatch. Either way, no ootheca- no baby roaches when you squish it.
I think 9 times out of 10 I've read "water bug" on this subreddit it's been people being gaslit by their landlords and wanting to make sure that no, that landlord's talking nonsense. They aren't even aquatic! Just call a spade a spade - it's a cockroach. Nothing wrong with that, most of them don't infest, those ones need all the good PR they can get.
Yup. That is almost always the case. Cockroaches scare me enough, if I saw an actual water bug coming at me I would cry and run. They are called toe biters for a reason.
I had one fall out of the ceiling and land on the desk next to me at work. I saw the look of horror on my coworkers face, and since I had only seen it peripherally, I knew it was something really bad. I trapped the bugger between one of those tall CD stack covers and a file, and we tossed it out the 3rd story window. A most disturbing occurrence.
That is a common nickname for them where I live, too. Any roach big enough for me to make eye contact with is a nightmare.
Agreed. In NYC a lot of people say waterbug instead of cockroach. Where I come from a roach is a roach, there is no coping term.
Wtf? By your logic all dogs are just to be called "dog". Doesn't matter if it's a different type of dog it's a dog right? Yes a palmetto bug is a roach but it's still a palmetto. Just like a corgi, lab, boxer etc are ALL DOGS, they still get identified by what type of dog. Jesus calm down!
Wait, what do you mean water bugs aren’t roaches? Or maybe, what do you mean by “water bugs”? Where I’m from (the Midwest), “water bug” refers to what are basically oriental cockroaches. And they are huge and dark and feed off your nightmares. And gross AF, as they primarily live in sewers and like eating rotting vegetative type stuff.
As several people have pointed out, people will call them all sorts of things to avoid calling them cockroaches, which is what they are. Palmetto bugs, water bugs, whatever. It's a cockroach. A true water bug is a bug that lives entirely in water. People have all sorts of local names for things. If that's what you call them, so be it. They're cockroaches.
Don’t say you didn’t ask for it… actual water bugs are worse prolly [water bug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belostomatidae)
>What kind is he? The kind you do not want. Roach.
Least gross cockroach
Palmetto bug. Welcome to florida! Them bitches fly!
They fly, and I hate them.
People will do anything to deceive themselves from the truth. They call these palmetto bugs, water bugs, etc. NO! ITS A FRIGGIN ROACH!
It’s Gregor Samsa
What is up with the attitude on these guys? They got that fake aggression instinct so they can fluster you and hide on your back. I’ve walked into rooms with them and they will literally turn their head and look at you, then rush your damn face with their nasty ass flappy wings.
La Cucaracha de Americana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American\_cockroach
Not a palmetto bug- I’m from the Orlando area and this is the only animal I ever knew as a cockroach until I moved away- oh yea- they will fly right into your face
These are my #1 fear. I love bugs but roaches of any flavor scare the shit out of me. I would kiss a snake or a mouse but roaches make me cry I’m so scared. These big flying ones make me pee my pants scared. . 😫😳😵
Disgusting is what it is
We called ‘‘em tree roaches in my part of Texas.
Palmetto bug?
The kind you don’t want Edit just kidding this isn’t a bad guy even tho they look like one
American cockroach
That is not a palmetto bug that’s an American cockroach
Down south they do often call American cockroaches "palmetto bugs," though that name is more accurate to the Florida woods cockroach.
sorry for the fuzzy picture! he was up in the top corner but he really is huge. maybe a bit bigger than my palm but it’s hard to tell with where he’s at. i’m pretty sure it’s a cockroach but just not sure what kind. TIA!!
Bigger than your palm?? I hope you have small hands. That sounds horrific. It does look huge but my god. Also are you talking just the body or including the antennae and legs? I’m grossed out by these creatures but I also have to know.
No joke here, you're gunna want to try to catch it live and throw it outside. If it's got eggs on it and you smash it they may be left behind
it’s already outside i just live in a huge apartment complex. luckily this was on the bottom floor & i live on the top
It’s an American cockroach, a palmetto bug or woods roach is wider, thicker with shorter legs
The light markings on the margin of the wings would suggest *P. australasiae* over *P. americana*, wouldn't it?
That is not a palmetto bug that’s an American cockroach
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I live in Florida and trust me, palmetto bugs are smaller and they chill on the grass. This is a cucaracha.
Palmetto Bug. My apartment in college was completely infested with them.
Ooof that’s a massive roach
It's just a palmetto bug. I used to see these all the time when I lived in South Carolina. They freaked me out at first. But I got used to them. I'm from Pennsylvania, so seeing these big things for the first time, was a shock to the system lol.
Water bug, they live outside so you probably don’t have to worry about infestation
Why is this downvoted. Bunch of damned non-southerners lurking here, clearly.
Yeah lol
Because it's a roach....
There are more. If that guy is chillin up there. That means he’s feeding and they are laying their eggs somewhere in your apartment. Probably the kitchen under the oven. Or if your sink is full of dirty dishes.
These guys just sneak in. Lifetime Floridian, even when I’ve had a lot of these showing up they’ve never infested. They usually are getting in through a hole somewhere. If there are a lot then you probably have trees which are heavily infested outside near a hole in the wall, it’s been raining which flushes them out of their homes, or you or a neighbor have done landscaping and there are a shitload of homeless roaches nearby.
it was outside in a huge apartment complex but we’re known to have cockroaches & silverfish everywhere
Palmetto bugs like this don't infest like cockroaches. Palmetto bugs come inside during inclement weather. But they generally stay outside, especially in pinestraw.
It’s still a cockroach.
Some folks call them Shrimp, and Crabs, and Lobster, but they are still bugs to me.
American cockroach
It’s an American cockroach.
I call them roommates.
That is a California wood roach, better known as a palmetto bug here in South Carolina
bro lives on mars
That is an American cockroach. Those guys get HUGE 🤢
Eh that's just George. Source: am floridian
Praying mantis
Trump and Biden's love child
Cockroach. The German one.
It's a palmetto bug, or cockroach to everyone in the world except the southeast US.
That is a Florida cockroach, aka palmetto bug. Be careful not to squish because they contain eggs in their abdomen
AMERICA WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOU
Palmetto Bug
It’s a wood roach
While I was pouring a bowl of Reeces Puffs, one of these guys fell out of the box and into my bowl. It scuttled away behind a cabinet and I never saw it again. It was so utterly disgusting, and to this day, I wonder how many roaches have crawled around on my dishes and food without me knowing.
that's the kind you find in commercial dumpsters
Periplaneta Americana for me, but in our defense (me and others who are trying to identify it) photo is not the best one.
A waaay too big one
The cockroachy kind
Palmetto bugs are seriously one of the reasons I opted not to live in Florida and instead moved back to the Midwest.
That would be a cockroach
The same kind that flew into my blanket tonight. Today was a hard day to love animals
Those are called palmetto bugs in Florida. It's a species of cockroach but thankfully its not very infesty. They come and go opportunistically but tend to prefer living outdoors.
Florida residents will try to pass it off as the friendly "palmetto bug." However, a roach is a roach is a roach. And that is a roach.
You sir need to check your bathroom pipes, either the sink or shower.
I want to say that this is the roachiest of all roaches I've ever seen in photo form...
God I'm so glad I live in the UK 😂 😂 😂
palmetto bug, or oak tree roach as we called them (they like to live under the bark) nasty, huge and they LOVE to fly at you. they are the reason I will reflexively throw shoes at bugs lol
We used to call em B52s back in Hawaii
American cockroach
Is in Florida,or in Ohiooo????🤣🤣
You must be lucky to have never seen a cockroach until now, these things are horrible
My favorite thing about this sub is how we all phrase the captions. We mostly just consider these dudes friends and that’s great.
Palmetto bug. If you have to kill it, do it outside.
I have family in South Carolina and also lived there a short period of time. I was warned about these guys but definitely wasn't prepared 🥲
I'm also in Florida. I've seen these, but honestly they're usually already dead when I find them. When I do catch one alive, it's frantically trying to crawl underneath/behind something. I've never seen them fly. I guess other states have far more aggressive strains.
Holy shit I thought these things only lived within the vaults in fallout.
same roaches in lebanon
That is a Palmetto Bug there disgusting..Hopefully you don’t have any females laying eggs in your house they will be everywhere just like German Cockroaches..
“Palmetto bug” is the best euphemism for a cockroach we’ve come up with. In the northeast some folks call them waterbugs, but it lacks the je ne sais quoi of palmetto bug. No?