We’ve seen Pokémon characters named after animals, but now there’s an animal named after a Pokémon.
A research team in Singapore, led by Filipino Cristian Lucañas, named a newly discovered species of cockroach after a character from the Japanese video game.
Chance Foo Maosheng, an entomologist working with Lucañas, shared their discovery on Facebook, sharing how this took them years.
“A new insect species (Nocticola pheromosa) has been described from Singapore, and it serves as the first record of this genus in Singapore. At the same time, it is also named after a Pokémon,’ he wrote.
The team’s new discovery was published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology on Feb. 27, with Lucañas of the UPLB Museum of Natural History as the lead author. They decided to give the new species the name Pheromosa because of its similarities with the character.
“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,” Maosheng told The Strait Times.
Additionally, both Mosheng and Lucañas are Pokémon fans! “So we thought, why not name it after a Pokémon inspired by a cockroach.”
The entomologist even said they were like the “bug catchers” in the game when they studied the insect.
However, this isn’t the first time a creature was named after Pokémon. In 2021, three colorful Australian beetles were named after Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Other species of bugs were also christened with names from pop culture icons: Scaptia beyonceae, Opaluma rupaul, and Aleiodes gaga.
