According to the Bronx Zoo, “Flowers wilt. Chocolates melt. Roaches are forever.” 

This year the Bronx Zoo is exhibiting 58,000 giant Madagascar hissing roaches, and offering Valentine’s Day naming rights for $10 apiece. 

http://www.bronxzoo.com/name-a-roach/

Could there be at beter way to let your loved one know how you feel on this special day?

The Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Bronx Zoo, suggests  “Maybe it’s in recognition of your one and only’s virility, or strength in the face of high radiation.”

The roaches, which are native to the island of Madagascar off  the south-eastern coast of Africa, are not pests and do not inhabit human dwellings.  In fact, they are actually popular pets because of their hissing sound, large size, and appearance. 

They generate their hissing sound by  forcing air through breathing pores on each segment of their thorax and abdomen.  They are believed to be the only insect that can “growl” in this manner. 

Their hiss takes three forms: the disturbance hiss, the female-attracting hiss, and the fighting hiss. All cockroaches can generate the disturbance hiss, and only males use the fighting hiss (when challenged by other males).  The fighting hiss is used to establish a dominance hierarchy by one of the males backing down and the fight being over. Males hiss more often than females. The males are also known to ram one another with their horns and shove one another about with their abdomens during competition for standing in the roach hierarchy.