Chinese customs intercept previously unknown species of cockroach

GUANGZHOU -- Customs officials in South China's Guangdong province have said that a cockroach that was discovered on a log shipment from South America has turned out to be a new species.

The customs office at Zhongshan Port in the city of Zhongshan said it found one cockroach-like insect when examining logs imported from French Guiana in May last year.

Through DNA and morphological identification, officials determined that the insect did not match any existing record of cockroaches. Further research confirmed it to be a previously undocumented species from the Latindia genus.

The results of the research have been published in the Chinese Journal of Vector Biology and Control.

Cockroaches are among the vectors under close monitoring by customs. They are highly adaptable and fecund, and can threaten the ecological environment and the public health of their destination country.