A few characteristics shared by all cockroach species might be useful to identify them.
Their body shape is flattened, wide and oval.
Pronotum: There is a big plaque joined to the thorax, composed of three segments. The first segment covers and protects the small head.
Head: Small heads carrying two typical long, thin, and flexible antennae used to sense the environment. They also have two big composed ocellus or eyes. The oral structures are adapted to bite, chew, and absorb.
Abdomen: The abdomen is composed of 10 segments.
Exoskeleton: Their whole body is covered by a hard, resistant exoskeleton, covered with a cerous substance.
Receptors: They have many thermal, tactile, and gustatory receptors to sense the environment.
Wings: Two pairs of wings. The tegmens are the hard front pair that protects the body and the second pair of wings. The second pair is membranous and used to fly.
Legs: Three pairs of robust legs joined to the thoracic segments. The last pair of legs are much longer than the others. All of them have ornaments that look like spines, and might have a sensory function and help the insect to displace through different fields.
