Panesthia lata

Panesthia lata, the Lord Howe Island wood-feeding cockroach or Lord Howe Island cockroach, is a large, wingless cockroach species endemic to the Lord Howe Island Group in the Tasman Sea.^[1][2]

Panesthia lata
Female Lord Howe Island cockroach (Panesthia lata) from Blackburn Island
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Blattodea
Family:	Blaberidae
Genus:	Panesthia
Species:	P. lata
Binomial name
Panesthia lata Walker, 1868

Appearance and diet

Panesthia lata is reasonably large, growing between 22–40 millimetres (0.87–1.57 in).^[3][4][5] It is metallic in colour, with general black to reddish colouration.^[3][4] It can be distinguished from other related species by its abdominal morphology and the shape of its cerci.

The species feeds on rotting wood and leaf litter, and has micro-organisms in its digestive system to help break down cellulose.^[3][5] It stays in the ground during the day and feeds at night.^[5]

Population

While once widespread across the archipelago, it was removed from Lord Howe Island proper by rats introduced in 1918, and none had been found for over 80 years.^[1][3][4] Today, the largest known populations occur on nearby islets, including Blackburn Island, Roach Island and Ball's Pyramid.^[1][5] The species is classified as "Endangered" under the New South Wales Threatened Species Act, and a plan exists to eventually reintroduce a population to Lord Howe Island.^[6]

Taxonomy

Panesthia lata was first described in 1868 by Francis Walker in his "Catalogue of the specimens of Blattariæ in the collection of the British Museum".^[4][7][8] It is in the subfamily Panestheiinae, which is distributed across Southeastern Asia and Oceania.

Rediscovery on Lord Howe island

After not having been observed on Lord Howe Island for over 80 years, a biology student at the University of Sydney rediscovered them on the island in late 2022.^[3][5]