During Valentine’s Day, the Toronto Zoo allowed visitors to name a cockroach after their ex. And now, an entire species has been named after several people’s childhood obsession – Pokémon.
Are you a Pokémon fan? A new species of cockroach discovered in Singapore has been named after a character from your favourite cartoon show, according to researchers. Any ideas?
Singapore’s leading newspaper According to The Straits Times, the species named “Pheromosa,” a cockroach-like Pokémon that appears in the seventh generation of the video game series and animated show, was discovered by comparing differences between the male genitalia of specimens with its closest relative from the Asian island of Borneo.
Entomologists Foo Maosheng from Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and Cristian Lucanas from UPLB Museum of Natural History made the discovery after extensive research for many years. And the duo made sure that the new species gets a unique identity. Dr. Maosheng, who is an avid lover of the anime series Pokemon, shared that they decided to name their discovery after a Pokemon.
“There are some similarities between Pheromosa and the delicate cockroach that we found. Such as having a long antenna, wings that mimic a hood and long slender legs,” entomologist Foo Maosheng, who co-authored the finding was quoted in the news report.
The findings were published in The Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology last month, co-authored by Foo Maosheng Cristian C. Lucanas. In it, they named the new species Nocticola pheromosa – Nocticola being the name of the genus the species belongs to.
