Rhinoceros cockroaches are usually solitary but adult males sometimes live with females that are almost mature.This rhinoceros cockroach lives in permanent burrows, which it digs using its spade-like forelegs.
Rhinoceros cockroaches are nocturnal, only leaving their burrows to forage for food or, in the case of adult males, to search for mates.
Unusually for cockroaches, they feed on dry plant debris such as dead leaves and the bark of twigs, which they drag down into their burrow and pack into the tunnel to feast upon at leisure. During the dry season of May to November they remain in their burrow feeding on the litter they have stored there.
Adults and large nymphs can hiss by expelling air from their last pair of abdominal spiracles (tiny breathing holes in the exoskeleton). They hiss when disturbed, when courting and when fighting. Fighting is commonest between adult males. Each male lowers his pronotum, the plate above his head, and then butt each other. The loser often gets turned over.