By Janine Dumaguin
A team of entomologists from the Philippines and Singapore discovered a new cockroach species in Singapore and named it after a Pokemon character.
Cristian Lucañas, an entomologist from University of the Philippines Los Baños and Foo Maosheng, a Singapore-based entomologist from National University of Singapore identified the new species as Nocticola pheromosa.
Nocticola pheromosa was named after the Lissome Ultra Beast Pokemon Pheromosa due its “design and colour may have been inspired by the American cockroach that has molted.”
The new species can be described and compared with the Bornean species and represents the ninth known fully-winged species of the genus.
The specimen collected in Bukit Nature Reserve is a delicate cockroach reported to be the first genus in Singapore.
It closely resembles Nocticola adebratti in terms of macroptery and the shape of the ocelli but differs in terms of wing venations and male genital structure.
This breakthrough and discovery was published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology. – gb