Periplaneta americana

The  American cockroach  ( Periplaneta americana ), also known as the  waterbug, or misidentified as the  palmetto bug   is the largest species of common  cockroach , and often considered a pest. None of the  Periplaneta  species are  endemic  to the  Americas ; despite the name,  P. americana  was  introduced  to the United States from  Africa  as early as 1625. They are now common in  tropical  climates because human activity has extended the insect's range of habitation, and global  shipping  has transported the insects to world ports including the Southern United States ,  Canary Islands, southern  Spain ,  Greece ,  Cyprus ,  Taiwan ,  India ,  South Africa  and  Azores (Portugal).

Characteristics
American cockroach adults grow to an average length of around 4 cm (1.6 in) and about 7 mm (0.28 in) tall.[5]  They are reddish brown and have a yellowish margin on the body region behind the head. Immature cockroaches resemble adults except they are wingless.

The cockroach is divided in three sections; the body is flattened and broadly oval, with a shield-like pronotum covering its head. A pronotum is a plate-like structure that covers all or part of the dorsal surface of the thorax of certain insects. They also have chewing mouth parts, long, segmented antennae, and leathery fore wings with delicate hind wings. The third section of the cockroach is the abdomen.

The insect can travel quickly, often darting out of sight when someone enters a room, and can fit into small cracks and under doors despite its fairly large size. It is considered one of the fastest running insects.

In an experiment carried out at the University of California, Berkeley in 1991, a Periplaneta americana registered a record speed of 5.4 km/h (3.4 mph), about 50 body lengths per second, which would be comparable to a human running at 330 km/h (210 mph).

It has a pair of large compound eyes, each having over 2000 individual lenses, and is a very active night insect that shuns light.