A giant leap for cockroaches…

When we wrote last week’s post about the coolest new species discovered in 2010, we failed to spot an important local connection (blush). Turns out one of the new discoveries on the list resides on our very own South African shores (amidst the rare fynbos vegetation of Cape Town’s Table Mountain National Park, to be exact). Meet the leaproach.

Look ma - no hands! Using its specially adapted back legs, a leaproach bounces across the slopes of Table Mountain.

What makes the species special? Two things:

1. Heavy-duty hindquarters

As the name suggests, Saltoblattella montistabularis (saltoblattella = Latin for jumping cockroach and montistabularis = Table Mountain) is a jumper. Its muscular back legs are specially modified for leaps and bounds (it can outmanoeuvre a grasshopper) and its antennae are customised to provide stability mid-hop. The leaproach’s talents are rather unique: to find another species of jumping roach you might have to go back to the Late Jurassic period (i.e: very long ago), which is possibly the last time other such roaches roamed our earth.

2. Good looks

Comparatively speaking (of course!), Saltoblattella montistabularis is the looker amongst thousands of far less alluring roach species (4,000-5,000 of them). For one thing, its reassuringly small and slender (a positively delicate third of an inch). So, as far as additions to the roach family go, things could be worse (and much uglier).