This species of cockroach, and in fact its whole family, are wood-eaters with the same digestive system bacteria that give termites their wood-eating capability.

Description:
Adults are wingless with a brown to black coloration.

This animal is credited with the task of helping to break down dead wood. It can potentially be found in many types of wood, but seems to prefer the pines.

Distribution:
The brown-hooded cockroach shares the Appalachian Mountains area with 3 other species of this genus.

References:

BugGuide.net at http://bugguide.net/node/view/574 .

Ecological niche conservation and differentiation in the wood-feeding cockroaches, Cryptocercus, in the United States, Kambhampati S., Peterson A.T. 2007. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 90: 457?466.