Cockroaches Get a Fantasy Makeover: New Species Named after Lord of the Rings and GeneSoc Junior Adviser

 by Jhon Daniel Celebrado and Gia Astor | Resistome

Entomologist Cristian Lucañas has recently named a new cockroach genus after the popular fantasy series, Lord of the Rings and a new species, Hobbitoblatta lambioe, after GeneSoc’s Junior Faculty adviser, Prof. Ivy Amor Lambio.

Mr. Lucañas, an entomologist at the University of the Philippines - Los Baños Museum of Natural History, has been studying cockroaches for several years. His research focuses on the systematics and evolution of cockroaches, specifically on the identification and classification of cockroach species. Presently, he has described and co-described 14 new cockroach species, among other insects.

The species he discovered was originally under the genus Periplaneta before being assigned to the genus Hobbitoblatta. Mr. Lucañas explained that Periplaneta necessitates taxonomic revision as it has been considered a “waste bin” genus into which cockroaches have been grouped as they await further research for classification. As the country's foremost and youngest cockroach expert, he can recognize differences in specimens from the UPLB Museum of Natural History's entomological collection. The two new genera that Mr. Lucañas named, which include Hobbitoblatta, were classified based on five morphological differences, such as sexual dimorphism, from the representative species of Periplaneta – P. americana.

He coined Hobbitoblatta from a combination of two words: one, from the word Hobbits to pay homage to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and two, from the term blatta, meaning cockroach. By naming it after a fictional race that has captured the hearts of millions of readers, he wishes that cockroaches will be viewed in a new, more relatable light.

To describe the new genus, Mr. Lucañas designated a male holotype or representative specimen collected in 2016 from the UPLB Hortorium, which he named Hobbitoblatta lambioe. The species is distributed around Luzon, such as in Mt. Makiling, Laguna; Laguna-Quezon Land Grant in Siniloan, Laguna; and the Polillo Islands in Quezon. His fellow curator at the UPLB Museum of Natural History, Prof. Ivy Amor Lambio, a botanist specializing in bryophytes and a fan of Tolkien's works, is the inspiration for the species H. lambioe.

Mr. Lucañas' research is a testament to the importance of taxonomic studies in understanding the diversity of life on Earth. His work sheds light on the evolutionary history of cockroaches, and highlights the need for further research to uncover the secrets of these fascinating creatures.