Cockroach-predator found in amber

Paleontologists from the Geological Institute in Bratislava and the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart described the type of cockroach in the journal Geeologica Carpathica , which existed about 100 million years ago.

The description was made thanks to the find in amber , extracted in Myanmar. The new species was called Manipulator Modificaputis . Several copies were found, including an individual at the larval stage. The species is included in the group of cockroaches, where the systematics include also mantis and termites, along with the cockroaches themselves. The insect had a long neck, which allowed his head to rotate freely, and the legs unusually long for a cockroach. The length of his body was 4.5 millimeters, and the thickness of 2 millimeters. Researchers suggest that representatives of this species were predators. He was able to grab the prey with elongated forearms, and an additional couple of eyes helped him to hunt. Earlier there were several groups of predatory cockroaches, but today only one has survived - mantis. Unlike the pilgrims, who guard their victim in ambush, Manipulator Modificaputis actively hunted in the forest litter.