THE BRONX — Why get your girlfriend flowers for Valentine's Day when you could name a cockroach after her instead?
The Bronx Zoo is bringing back Name-a-Roach, which launched in 2011, to provide people across the globe with the chance to say "I love you" by naming one of the zoo's Madagascar hissing cockroaches after their significant other.
Naming a roach costs $10 and includes a colorful certificate that will be emailed to your Valentine, stating that a cockroach has been named in his or her honor. All the money goes to support the Wildlife Conservation Society.
The zoo does not have a database for keeping track of which roach is named after which person's significant other, according to spokesman Steve Fairchild.
"You would have to use your imagination," he said. "There are tens of thousands of roaches."
The Bronx Zoo keeps the Madagascar hissing cockroaches on display at its Madagascar! exhibit, a habitat for creatures from the African country including crocodiles and lemurs.
The bugs are the largest species of roach in the world, growing to nearly 4 inches long, and they emit their namesake hissing noise as a defense mechanism. They rarely enter homes and are not considered pests, according to the Bronx Zoo.
Lovers can place their orders online at www.bronxzoo.com/roach.
