They are believed to have been introduced to the Americas only from the 17th century onward as a result of human commercial patterns,[2] including the Atlantic slave trade.

[2] They are now common in tropical climates because human activity has extended the insects' range of habitation, and are virtually cosmopolitan in distribution as a result of global commerce.

The cockroach is divided into three sections; the body is flattened and broadly oval, with a shield-like pronotum covering its head.

[6] The American cockroach shows a characteristic insect morphology with its body bearing divisions as head, trunk, and abdomen.

The abdomen is divisible into 10 segments, each of which is surrounded by chitinous exoskeleton plates called sclerites, including dorsal tergites, ventral sternites, and lateral pleurites.

[14] When female American cockroaches are housed in groups, this close association promotes facultative parthenogenic reproduction.

[6] These traits, along with enlarged groups of genes relating to detoxification, the immune system, and growth and reproduction, are believed to be part of the reasons behind the cockroach's ability to adapt to human living spaces.

[17] American cockroaches are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders that eat materials such as cheese, sweets, beer, tea, leather, bakery products, starch in book bindings, manuscripts, glue, hair, flakes of dried skin, dead animals, plant materials, soiled clothing, and glossy paper with starch sizing.

These cockroaches are common in basements, crawl spaces, cracks and crevices of porches, foundations, and walkways adjacent to buildings.

In residential areas outside the tropics, these cockroaches live in basements and sewers and may move outdoors into yards during warm weather.

House dust containing cockroach feces and body parts can trigger allergic reactions and asthma in certain individuals.

Cockroaches may enter houses via wastewater plumbing, underneath doors, or via air ducts or other openings in the walls, windows or foundation.

Inexpensive glue board traps are normally placed in warm indoor locations readily accessible to insects but not likely to be encountered by people: underneath refrigerators or freezers, behind trash cans, etc.

[23] Covering any cracks or crevices through which cockroaches may enter, sealing food inside insect-proof containers, and quickly cleaning any spills or messes that have been made is beneficial.

[13] The American cockroach has been used as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, with references to its usage in the Compendium of Materia Medica and Shennong Ben Cao Jing.

In China, an ethanol extract of the American cockroach, Kāngfùxīn Yè (康复新液), is prescribed for wound healing and tissue repair.