Word: roth
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...many cases I can recognize a species just by looking at the genitalia," says Roth, a research associate in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ). Roth says that he also looks at an organism's wings and the sexual glands of a male when attempting to place a specimen taxonomically...
...entomologist has been studying the behavior and taxonomy of numerous cockroach species for more than 40 years, the last six of which he has spent working on the fourth floor of the MCZ. Before coming to Harvard in 1982, Roth headed the Army's Entomology Research Group in Natick, where he pioneered many of the basic studies on the behavior of these insects, which have been in existance for more than 300 million years. One recent morning, Roth discussed his four decades with cockroaches, explaining his work and peppering his reminiscences with humorous anecdotes about his days with the army...
Lately, the mail has held quite a few specimens for Roth. Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sent him some cockroaches found in Florida, with a request for identification. He looked at the specimens and decided that they were German cockroaches, but the USDA wrote back, saying that the insect was not behaving like the German roach. Unlike this common species, these cockroaches are attracted to light...
...Roth looked at the specimens again and decided that they might be Asian cockroaches, which had never before been seen in America. He sent the specimens to a Japanese entomologist who confirmed that it was indeed the species Roth suspected it to be. Roth and USDA officials speculate that this roach species was recently produced to America...
USDA officials say that Roth's work was instrumental in helping them decide how to approach the growing cockroach infestation problem in Florida. "[The Asian cockroach] has a present potential to be a pest problem, so [Roth's] work is very significant in defining the pest problem," says Richard Patterson, research leader at the USDA's division on insects affecting man and animals...