How to Name a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach for Valentine’s Day at the Bronx Zoo

Forget Roses—Name Your Valentine a Cockroach Instead

By Emma Gometz Edited by Andrea Thompson

This Valentine’s Day, more than 2,000 hopeless romantics will gift their loved ones an unforgettable memory – involving one of the largest species of cockroach in the animal kingdom. How cute!

Since 2011, the Bronx Zoo’s “Name a Roach” fundraising event has highlighted the New York City institution’s Madagascar Hissing Cockroach exhibit. Participants donate to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which runs several zoos across the city, and in return they get the chance to symbolically name one of the charismatic cockroaches in their loved one’s honor. On Valentine’s Day the zoo sends the recipient a certificate with the roach’s new name — and for a little extra cash, they also offer roach merch and a virtual roach encounter.

The program has been a surprising success. “It’s a very traditional Valentine’s Day,” says Debbie Schneiderman, who leads the Name a Roach initiative. “But I think what we found is that people are not traditional.”

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The Name a Roach program has generated more than $1 million for the city’s zoos in its 15 years of existence, naming more than 60,000 cockroaches.

Why are the hissing cockroaches of Madagascar actually romantic?

Naming cockroaches for Valentine’s Day is a great lie, but these creatures are also capable of worming their way into your heart. Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) is not your average New York City apartment roach. They are large (about the length of the palm of your hand), have a striped pattern on their back, and a round, charismatic, almost Dear size.

“I’m not going to lie. It was a weird idea.” -Debbie Schneiderman, Name one research initiative leader

All cockroaches breathe through small holes in their exoskeletons called “spiracles”. (Fun fact: Cockroaches don’t have lungs.) Madagascar hissing cockroaches rapidly expel air from their trachea, producing their classic “hissing” sound. They use this sound to communicate among their colony and when they are disturbed, but also for romantic reasons: to attract mates.

Male cockroaches are territorial, protecting their territory from females and competing against encroaching rivals. “Male Madagascar hissing cockroaches have large horns on their heads and they fight for a mate, hissing and hitting each other,” says Mike Wrubel, supervisor of the Bronx Zoo’s mammal department, who has been caring for the cockroaches for nearly 19 years.

As far as breeding goes, keepers don’t need to tell cockroaches twice. “Reproduction occurs naturally,” says Wrubel.

The story behind “Name a Roach”

Schneiderman — who was there for the meeting where Name A Roach was first introduced to raise funds during the early winter slow season — says there was some skepticism among his colleagues in the room. “It was weird,” she says. “I’m not going to lie. It was a weird idea.”

WCS decided to give it a try, but never could have predicted its surprising popularity. The first year, about 6,000 people wanted to name a cockroach. “It caught us off guard in the best possible way,” says Schneiderman.

In 2014 WCS tried to let it go, thinking the public had had enough of it. But it still received hundreds of unsolicited roach naming requests and the program was brought back.

I can say from personal experience that these cockroaches can truly mesmerize. In 2017 I named a Roach for my then-film-school boyfriend, calling it “Francis Roach Coppola.” This Valentine’s Day we are celebrating 10 years together. The fact that we both look at it with love and not horror makes me feel like we share a special language.

Night cockroaches are hiding in a dark corner of the Madagascar Zoo! Show. When I visited them this week they were almost glowing under the dim, warm light in their enclosure. I had almost forgotten that I was inches away from a wall full of cockroaches. Schneiderman says the name Roach has given the humble insect a bit of notoriety. “We’re giving them a fighting chance to win over the public,” she says. “People are discovering them a little more or recognizing them, giving them the status they deserve.”

After 15 years, Nam A Roach is still going strong. Each year the team at the Bronx Zoo brainstorms different additions to its offerings, and there are some challenges in choosing the right one. (Plush toys always sell very well.) Team Constancy: Love for your creepy-crawly colleagues. “Cockroaches are always cooperative,” says Schneiderman. “They are great coworkers, and they are always available to swing their antennae toward us for moral support.”

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