American Cockroach

Periplaneta americana, despite the name 'American,' is native to Africa and arrived in the Americas via the slave trade in the 17th century. She's the largest common indoor cockroach worldwide, with adults reaching 4-5 cm. The species' speed is among the highest measured for any insect: 5.4 km/h, which scales to about 530 km/h at human dimensions — making her the fastest land animal relative to body size of any species ever measured (slightly behind the tiger beetle by certain metrics). Other extreme attributes: she can survive 30+ minutes underwater, withstand radiation doses 6-15× the lethal limit for humans, and survive a week without her head (the body retains independent ganglia and only dies from dehydration, since she breathes through spiracles on the body, not the head). NASA and other space agencies have studied the American cockroach extensively as a model for radiation-resistant biology — relevant for long-duration spaceflight. The species is the typical 'big brown cockroach' in restaurants, sewers, basements, and warm humid spaces. The Wild Pest's BC team handles American cockroach treatment as commercial work.