A thin band of light from Cristian Lucanas’ headlamp pierces the blackness of a Philippine rainforest as he digs through the underbrush before gently scooping up a cockroach with his bare hands.
As the Southeast Asian country’s lone expert on the oft-misunderstood insect – and discoverer of 15 species – friends have dubbed the soft-spoken scientist “Ipis Lord”, after the local name for the ubiquitous bug.
While fully aware most view cockroaches as disgusting, disease-bearing pests, the 31-year-old University of the Philippines entomologist says they deserve more study – and credit – for their key role in the planet’s ecosystem.
“I also hated cockroaches when I was a child,” Lucanas said with a grin during an interview in the college town of Los Banos, south of Manila.
“Fear of cockroaches is innate,” he conceded, adding he usually tells people “I work in a museum” when asked about his job.
His girlfriend, also an entomologist, is more understanding, though her work focuses on insects less reviled than the cockroach, of which there are more than 4,600 known species.
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