‘Extinct’ cockroach rediscovered after 80 years

The discovery was made by a biology student at the University of Sydney, reports Furvah Shah

Student Maxim Adams under the banyan tree where the surprise discovery of the roach was made (Nicholas Carlile/DPE)

A cockroach thought to have been extinct for more than 80 years has been rediscovered by a student in Australia.

A large, wingless and wood-feeding cockroach native to Lord Howe Island, Australia, was thought to have died out in 1918 following the arrival of rats on the island.

But it was rediscovered by Maxim Adams, a biology student at the University of Sydney, who said he couldn’t believe his discovery at first.

“For the first 10 seconds or so, I thought ‘No, it can’t be’,” he said. “I mean, I lifted the first rock under this huge banyan tree, and there it was.”

“We found families of them, all under this one banyan,” said scientist Nicholas Carlile of the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE).

Mr Carlisle was with Mr Adams when he made the discovery in North Bay, a secluded white, sandy beach on the island only accessible by foot or water.

“In fact, Maxim and Nathan were there for the rest of the week, looked under every other banyan in North Bay, but didn’t find anything.”

The Lord Howe Island wood-feeding cockroach was once widespread across the archipelago but has not been seen since 1918, so its rediscovery has been celebrated.

“The survival is great news, as it has been more than 80 years since it was last seen,” said Lord Howe Island’s board chair, Atticus Fleming, about the find.

“Lord Howe Island really is a spectacular place, it’s older than the Galápagos islands and is home to 1,600 native invertebrate species, half of which are found nowhere else in the world.

“These cockroaches are almost like our very own version of Darwin’s finches, separated on little islands over thousands or millions of years developing their own unique genetics,” he added.

The cockroaches are thought to be crucial in maintaining healthy ecosystems on the island, acting as nutrient recyclers by speeding up the breakdown of logs and as a food source for other species.

Scientists had even been exploring how to reintroduce the cockroaches back to the main island from offshore islets before the rediscovery.

“There is still so much to learn,” said Professor Lo, head of the Molecular Ecology, Evolution, and Phylogenetics (MEEP) Lab in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences.

“We are hoping to study their habitat, behaviours, and genetics and learn more about how they managed to survive, through further experiments on the island.”

The research is led by the University of Sydney in partnership with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment and the Lord Howe Island Museum, and is funded by the Australia and Pacific Science Foundation and the Australian Research Council.