My boyfriend killed a bug and said it was a German Cockroach?

Question

I live in Nebraska and have never to my knowledge lived any place where there was a cockroach. We've lived here 2 years and this is the first cockroach I would have seen. Also it was nowhere near any food- it was on the floor in the hallway going towards the bedrooms. I thought it was a water bug, but now I'm freaked out. It was maybe 1/2"-1" long and skinny and blackish brown. I don't want to live in a place with roaches... Could it have come from somewhere else, or is it possible there's an infestation or something in the house, or was it some kind of other bug?

Answer 1

In the US there are several types of cockroach, but the two most prevalent are the german cockroach and the palmetto bug. It sounds as if your boyfriend is correct because palmetto bugs are big.

If you saw 1 than you can rest assured that there are a lot more that you don't see.

I don't think there is anywhere on earth that you can live without cockroaches  

Answer 2

While it may indeed have been a kind of roach, it's possible that it could've been one of the roach species that only infrequently show up in houses and are not major pests like the German Cockroach. Where I live in Maryland, "wood roaches" show up during the warmer months on my porch and sometimes indoors...I think they are accidental visitors from the forest behind my house.

On the other hand, German cockroaches can easily "hitch a ride" to new areas. I once worked in a previously pest-free restaurant that had to call an exterminator after a cockroach-infested shipment of potatoes was delivered...hope something like that hasn't happened in your case.

Answer 3

i Dont know what it was but i would'nt think you had an infestation if youv'e only seen one,could you look round for somemore before you move it might be just the odd one