Pale-Footed Birch Sawfly vs Smokybrown Cockroach

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute	Pale-Footed Birch Sawfly	Smokybrown Cockroach
Scientific Name	Profenusa thomsoni	Periplaneta fuliginosa
Order	Hymenoptera	Blattodea
Family	Tenthredinidae	Blattidae
Size	3-5 mm	25-38 mm
Habitat	Woodlands	Woodlands
Diet	Herbivores	Omnivores
Regions	Europe, introduced to North America	Asia, North America
Conservation	Least Concern	Least Concern

Pale-Footed Birch Sawfly

A tiny black sawfly whose larvae create distinctive blotch mines within birch leaves. Mined leaves develop brown, papery patches.

💡

Heavy infestations can cause over 80 percent of birch leaves to become mined, giving trees a scorched appearance by late summer.

A uniformly dark mahogany-brown cockroach that is an excellent flier and strongly attracted to lights at night. It requires high humidity to survive.

💡

Smokybrown cockroaches are strong fliers attracted to light and are frequently found buzzing around porch lights on warm summer evenings.