New Species of Cockroach Named After a Pokémon
A new species of cockroach has been discovered in Singapore, and it was named after a Pokémon.
Nocticola pheromosa, as it's now called, was discovered by comparing the wing venations and male genital structure of the specimens with a close relative from Borneo, as The Straits Times reports. Singaporean entomologist Foo Maosheng made the discovery together with Filipino entomologist Cristian C. Lucañas, both of whom are fans of Pokémon.
"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," said Foo.
Pheromosa is a bug and fighting type Pokémon that debuted in the seventh generation of the multimedia franchise. In the popular video game series, it first appears in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Pheromosa's Pokédex entry describes it as having a "thin and supple" body.
The discovery of species was published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology on 27 February. The identity of the cockroach had been a mystery since 2016 to 2017 when male specimens were collected from a secondary forest in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore.
"There were no formal records of the cockroach in Singapore," said Foo. "Since its DNA did not match any species recorded online, it does add to the suggestion that this species had not been formally documented."
Foo was later contacted by Lucañas after seeing photos of the species on The Biodiversity of Singapore website. Lucañas dissected the collected specimens, and published his findings in collaboration with Foo.
Foo in a Facebook post also thanked Sebastian Ow for his support with molecular information, and Siti Maimon for her specimen photography.
The Pheromosa cockroach isn’t the first real-world organism to be named after a Pokémon. In 2021, three beetles native to southern Australia were named after the three legendary bird Pokémon Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres.
Nocticola pheromosa is a new species of cockroach discovered by comparing the wing venations and male genital structure of the specimens with a close relative from Borneo.
Part of its name comes from a Pokémon that it shares similar characteristics with.
Singaporean entomologist Foo Maosheng made the discovery together with Filipino entomologist Cristian C. Lucañas, both of whom are fans of Pokémon.
