Bug FAQLarge Black Kekerengu
Platyzosteria novaeseelandiae · Order: Blattodea · Family: Blattidae
The Large Black Kekerengu is a large cockroach about 25 to 29 mm long. It lives in lowland forests and coastal areas of New Zealand, hiding among grass, rotten logs, stones and debris, and is active at night. Adults have dark-red legs and antennae that start brown at the base and become lighter toward the tips.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Legs are dark red and the antennae are brown at the base, fading to lighter colours toward the ends.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure between 25 and 29 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found among grasses and under rotten logs, stones and debris, where it feeds on decaying plant material. During the day it hides behind tree bark, under stones or logs and is mainly active at night.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It consumes decaying plant material.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The defensive gland that produces a chemical spray is only present in adult cockroaches.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
An introduced black cockroach on the New Zealand coast, likely a Polyzosteria species from Australia, can be confused with it but lacks tegmina in adults.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What does it look like?
Its legs are dark red and its antennae start brown at the base and become lighter toward the tips.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is it found?
It lives in lowland forests and coastal areas of New Zealand, hiding among grass, rotten logs, stones and debris, and is active at night.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Blattidae)
American CockroachPeriplaneta americanaCan spread germs or disease
Oriental CockroachBlatta orientalisCan spread germs or disease
Smokybrown CockroachPeriplaneta fuliginosaNuisance, not dangerous
Australian CockroachPeriplaneta australasiaeNuisance, not dangerous
Turkestan CockroachBlatta lateralisNuisance, not dangerous
Brown CockroachPeriplaneta brunneaNuisance, not dangerousSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platyzosteria_novaeseelandiae
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.