Newly Identified Cockroach Species Named After Pokémon

There’s a new Pokémon in the wild, a real one in fact!

A newly identified species of cockroach found in Singapore was named after the Ultra Beast Pokémon Pheromosa.

Nocticola pheromosa | Photo taken from Chace Foo Maosheng’s Facebook post

A group of researchers from the Philippines and Singapore identified Nocticola pheromosa – a new species of fully-winged cockroaches from the genus Nocticola. Its discovery served as the first record of the genus in Singapore.

Male specimens of Nocticola pheromosa were collected during an insect survey study in the Bukit Nature Nature Reserve of Singapore and were later identified at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum of the National University of Singapore.

As one can see, the new species of cockroaches closely resemble the looks of the Lissome Pokémon Pheromosa, which is why the researchers named the new species after the said Pokémon as it looked like a cockroach in the first place.

This isn’t the first time a newly discovered species was named after a Pokémon. In fact, there are several species of insects and other animals named after Pokémon such as the three rare species of Australian beetles named after Kanto’s three legendary birds (Binburrum articuno, Binburrum zapdos, and Binburrum moltres), a bee named after Charizard (Chilicola Charizard), and a species of pterosaurs aptly named after Aerodactyl (Aerodactylus Scolopaciceps).

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