Opisthoplatia orientalis

Basic information
Scientific name	Opisthoplatia orientalis	Click to magnify
Common names
Higher taxon	Blaberidae, Polyphagoidea, Blattodae
Natural range	India, continental China, Macau, Taiwan, Java Is., and southern Japan (S Kyushu, S Shikoku, and Ryukyu Islands).
Habitat	Gap under stone, fallen tree, etc., around forest and roadside.

Invasion information
Range in Japan	Shizuoka, Chiba, Wakayama Prefs., Izu Islands (Miyakejima, Hachijojima and Aogashima Is.), Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands.
Origin	Unknown.
Date	The first record in Hachijojima Is. and Wakayama Pref. was in 1979 and 1994, respectively.
Route	Accidental: Possibly hitchhiking on garden plants such as cycad.
Impact	Household pest. Having many pathogens. Feces are sometimes allergen.
Regulation in Japan	No action for prevention, mitigation, control, or eradication.
Introduced range in other countries	Unknown.

Reference	Notes
Aoki (Ed.) (1999) Pictorial Keys to Soil Animals of Japan. Tokai Univ. Press, Tokyo (in Jpn) Kubota (2011) Mass appearance of a tropical ccockroach, Opisthoplatia orientalis (Balattaria, Balattoidea) in the campus of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory at Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Bull Biogeogr Soc Japan. 66, 215-216 (in Jpn with English abst) etc.	In July 2011, there was a mass appearance of this species at an area in Shirahama, Wakayama Pref., possibly owing to climate change.