Name a roach after your sweetheart for Valentine's Day

The Bronx Zoo makes an unusual offer in the name of romance: the right to name a Madagascar hissing cockroach after a loved one.

By Bryan NelsonThu, Feb 10 2011 at 2:21 AM EST

Madagascar hissing cockroach HISSING ROACH: A Madagascar hissing roach like this one could bear your loved one's name. (Photo: Wiki Commons/public domain)
You and your sweetheart sitting in a tree, H-I-S-S-I-N-G.
 
It's not a traditional Valentine's Day gift, but this year the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo is offering the right to name a giant Madagascar hissing cockroach after your sweetheart.
 
"Nothing says forever like a cockroach," said Jim Breheny, senior vice president for Living Institutions and director of the Bronx Zoo, in a statement. "They are resourceful, resilient, and have been around for hundreds of millions of years."
 
"Flowers wilt. Chocolates melt. Roaches are forever," according to the Bronx Zoo website.
 
Of course, if you find it more appropriate, you could always name one after an "ex" too. Either way, naming the roach takes no more than a $10 donation, which includes an e-card to the recipient announcing that a cockroach has been named in his or her honor. The donation goes toward the Wildlife Conservation Society's push to protect wildlife — whether beautiful or ugly — around the world.
 
Madagascar hissing cockroaches are among the largest cockroaches in the world. Unlike most other species of cockroach they can't fly, a fact that makes them popular as pets (yes, pets!). These roaches are also vegetarian and can live for as long as five years.
 
The Bronx Zoo has as many as 58,000 of these roaches in need of a name. To assign one, visit their website. 

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