Periplaneta japanna is a subtropical field-dwelling cockroach endemic to southern Japan.[1] The Japanese common name, ウルシゴキブリ,[2] means urushi cockroach, or lacquer tree cockroach.
Nymphs and adults are a dark black, and typically live under stones and pieces of wood.[1] Their ability to bore or live in rotting wood enables their spread via ocean currents.[3]
The species is found on several Japanese islands, distributed continuously from Japan’s southwestern Ryukyu Islands chain to the south of Kiyushu Island, and on Hachijō-jima Island.[4][1]
Nymph specimens from Hachijō-jima Island and Naha, Okinawa responded to photoperiodic stimulii quite differently during laboratory-induced diapause tests. This “might be regarded as the result of divergent evolution” between the parapatric populations.[1]