Three New Cockroach Species Found in China

Three new species of cockroaches have been discovered in China, belonging to the genus Pseudophoraspism.

The three newly discovered species have been named as Pseudophoraspis clavellata, pseudophoraspis recurvata and pseudophoraspis incurvata. This is the first time that cockroaches of this genus have been discovered in China; else they have been documented in Southeast Asia and never north of Vietnam.

They were spotted in China's Hainan, Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces respectively, which expands the range of Pseudophoraspis towards the north.

The newly discovered yellow-bodied creatures belong to the family of Blaberidae. Though they are small and compact when compared their other cousins, they grow an inch more in length during their adulthood. The largest species known is Blaberus giganteus; it grows upto 4 inches in length.

All of the known species were reported from Southeast Asia and South Asia, and the previously known boundary of this genus would be Vietnam. "We found three new species from China, located in Hainan, Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces respectively, which extends the range of the genus Pseudophoraspis northward," study author Dr. Zongqing Wang, from Southwest University, China, said in a statement.

Till date, the genus Pseudophoraspis comprises of 15 species worldwide. More than 4,500 species of cockroaches are known till date and have existed from the time of the dinosaurs.  The fossil record of cockroaches dates back to 400 million years, which clearly reveals the adaptability of this insect and rates it as the strongest survivors of the planet.

The details of the study are published in the journal Zookeys.