Discovering a nest of cockroaches is not on most people’s wish lists but for scientists from the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) and University of Sydney, the recent discovery of endangered roaches is key to maintaining a healthy ecosystem Lord Howe Island.
Chair of the Lord Howe Island Board, Atticus Fleming said the Lord Howe Island Wood-feeding cockroach Panesthia lata was thought to be extinct until its rediscovery two months ago.
“The survival is great news as it has been more than 80 years since it was last seen due to the invasion by rodents in 1918,” Mr Fleming said.
“Two scientists from the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) and University of Sydney were searching a control site on mainland Lord Howe Island as part of genetic study to find a suitable population from the outer islands to reintroduce one day,” he said.
“The first rock they lifted revealed a small population with a few more found under surrounding rocks beneath a single banyan fig-tree.”
Mr Flemming likened the wingless 22-40 mm long cockroaches to Australia’s own version of Darwin’s finches “separated on little islands over thousands or millions of years developing their own unique genetics”.
Senior Scientist with DPE, Nicholas Carlile said it was possible the cockroaches survived at the location due to decades of strategic rodent baiting by the Lord Howe Island Board to protect other threatened species such as the Lord Howe gecko, Lord Howe skink and a giant Placostylus land snail.
Evolutionary biologist at the University of Sydney, Nathan Lo said while native cockroaches got a bad rap and did not always attract the funding of more charismatic threatened species, “they are incredibly important nutrient recyclers, ecosystem engineers and as a food source for other species.”
