Toronto Zoo had let people name a cockroach on the name of their exes during Valentine's Day. And now, an entire species is being named with inspiration from several people's childhood craze - Pokémon.
A Pokémon fan? Researchers have named a new species of cockroach found in Singapore after a character from your favourite cartoon show. Any guesses?
Singapore broadsheet The Straits Times reported the news and stated that the species discovered through comparing differences between the male genitalia of specimens with its closest relative from the Asian island of Borneo is named "Pheromosa," a cockroach-like Pokémon that appears in the seventh generation of the video game series and animated show.
“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.
