Wood cockroach Nymph

5936   Dear Editor,  Thank you for your help in identifying the attached beetle.  A few weeks ago we moved into a home that had been unoccupied for a few years. We are finding on average 2-3 of these beetles in our house on a daily basis. Often they are on their back, in the process of dying it seems. Others are running around, active and seemingly healthy.   The body size is about 1cm.  There is no particular time of day or weather conditions in which we notice them more or less.  Our house is on a lakefront property, about 15 minutes north of Kingston, Ontario.   Thanks again for your help. Kind regards,  Cameron.

This is a nymph of a cockroach, likely one of the wood cockroaches in the genus Parcoblatta; see http://tinyurl.com/h9un4df for an example. These cockroaches may enter homes accidentally, but very seldom will cause an actual infestation.  Ed Saugstad, retired entomologist; Sinks Grove, WV.