Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood is home to art galleries, fashion stores, townhouses and now a new breed of cockroach that won't die even if forced to live outside all winter. The High Line, a park that turned a dilapidated stretch of elevated railway in the neighborhood into one of New York's newest tourist attractions, may have been responsible for bringing a new breed of cockroach to the city. Rutgers University insect biologists Jessica Ware and Dominic Evangelista said the species Periplaneta japonica is well documented in Asia but was never confirmed in the United States until now. The scientists, whose findings were published in the Journal of Economic Entomology, say that it is too soon to predict the impact but that there is probably little cause for concern.
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Researchers believe an Asian cockroach made its way to the U.S. in plants imported for the construction of a New York City park
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Periplaneta japonica has never been confirmed in the U.S. until recently
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This form of Asian cockroach is different from common American cockroaches in that it can survive outside in the winter
'There has been some confirmation that it does very well in cold climates, so it is very conceivable that it could live outdoors during winter in @placeholder,' Ware said.