A brand new species of cockroach was recently discovered in a forested nature reserve in Singapore. The species, which was named after Pheromos, a cockroach-like Pokemon that first appeared within the seventh generation of the video game series, was discovered by comparing differences within the specimens’ male genitalia with those of their closest Bornean cousin.
Nocticola pheromosa is a brand new species of cockroach in the world and belongs to the Nocticola family. In Latin, “love of the night” is nocticola. Foo Maosheng and Cristian Caballes Lucaas, two entomologists, announced this discovery within the Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology.
After finding photos of the animals on The Biodiversity of Singapore website, the study’s lead writer Lucas, an entomologist on the University of the Philippines Museum of Natural History in Los Baos, Philippines, contacted Foo for help and further details.
According to Foo, the fragile cockroach we discovered and Pheromosa share some common features, including long antennae, hood-like wings and long, thin legs.
Since my co-worker and I are huge Pokemon fans, we figured it needs to be named after a Pokemon influenced by a cockroach.
When several male cockroaches were discovered in secondary forest within the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in 2016–2017, the species was unknown.
According to Foo, there have been no official reports of the cockroach in Singapore. This supports the concept this species was not officially documented because its DNA didn’t match any species listed online.
Foo says Nocticola pheromosa, as most individuals imagine after they hear the term “cockroach,” is more delicate than the American cockroach.
Lucaas did extensive research with Foo and concluded that the cockroach had never been scientifically documented, and decided to share his findings.
The recent species joins the remaining 22 members of the genus, all of that are native to Australia or parts of Africa, India, mainland Asia or southeast Asia.
Source: SEA.ign.com
