Femida’s scientific contributions

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattoidea, sometimes also called Blattaria. Cockroaches live in a wide range of environments around the world, having broad, flattened bodies and relatively small heads. They are generalized insects, with few special adaptations and may be among the most primitive living neopteran insects. The smoky brown cockroach (Periplaneta fuliginosa) is a larger species of winged cockroach, which prefer warmer climates. Though closely related to American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), the smoky brown cockroach is readily distinguishable by its uniformly dark brown – mahogany coloration with a shiny thorax. No molecular barcoding data is available for this species that can be used for its precise identification. In this study, we have PCR amplified and sequenced cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of Periplaneta fuliginosa collected from Lakshadweep Islands for molecular level identification and constructed phylogenetic tree for recognizing its evolutionary relationship. The amplified partial sequence of COI gene yielded a single product of 622 bp long fragment encoding 207 amino acids. The resultant COI gene sequence deposited in NCBI GenBank (Accession No. KM 985649) database can be used as molecular barcode of this species.