Difference between Cockroaches and Waterbugs?

Question

So I moved to Texas three or so years ago from California, where a cockroach is a cockroach.

So having been here this long, people say "Oh thats just a Waterbug." and I still don't see the difference. So perhaps someone could enlighten this poor city girl?

And even if they are different, aren't they just as unsanitary?

Answer 1

a waterbug is 100% different than a roach. its larger a harder shell fatter legs. they are not unsanitary and they wont infest your home the way roaches do. you will never turn on the bathroom lights and 100s of waterbugs are running away from the light.

edit: i feel you I had to live in a roach infested apartment in the ghetto for a year. i finally moved away from there it was terrible. a water bug will not touch you when you are asleep if you see one squash it!

Answer 2

I don't know why people say, "Oh, that's just a Waterbug."  I hate that.  They are cockroaches, oriental cockroaches,  and cities have them too, in spades.  They may not become as big a problem as German cockroaches, but yes, they are unsanitary.  In my state the last two years, everyone is talking about how bad they've become.  We need to stop ignoring them and try to eliminate some of their population.

Here is some information about them:

http://www.pestworld.org/For-Consumers/P...

Answer 3

"water bug" for the most part is just a generic term given to the large outdoor species of cockroach that find their way inside.  Sounds nicer than "roach"  

A true water bug is shaped and about the same size as the Smokey Brown Roach and is actually a beetle that lives in the water

But to be truly correct there is a member of the group of True Bugs (not insects such as the beetle and roach) that makes it  more of a water bug than the others   (Water Boatman)

For the most part the outdoor roaches feed off of rotting vegetation so they won't be as unsanitary as their smaller cousin the German Roach which feeds off of our garbage...but the outdoor roach can be found around sewer problems so in that sense they can spread germs

Answer 4

There's no difference. They are the same thing

Answer 5

I think a water bug is just a big cockroach.

Answer 6

the only difference is what they are called in one state, versus the name used in another state