Platyzosteria novae-zelandiae

Tonight I had a hair-raising encounter with a species from another time. I was lifting paper off my printer, and I saw something scuttle under the surface of my desk. I have a transparent (pink) desk, so I looked through it and on the underside of my desk was..... a cockroach. Un cafard.

I hate cockroaches. I met my first one in Dad's coffee cup in Fiji, and had several encounters with them in Tahiti, usually ending up with me screaming on my bed while it scuttled across the floor. Tahiti has a few nasties actually - I saw a centipede once too.

So since Karthik is conveniently present, I demand in an irrational and high-pitched voice that he dispose of it.

Karthik, it turns out, doesn't like cockroaches either. This one was about an inch long, plus waving antenna, black, shiny and narrow. So Karthik asks what I expect him to do. I send him downstairs for a cup, and grab a piece of paper. Then I leave Karthik to do the manly thing and remove the cockroach. 20 minutes later he is still watching it and reluctantly edging closer from time to time. So I use the paper to poke the cockroach until it runs onto the piece of paper and onto my chair. I must add here that I am usually the insect removal person - I have been removing spiders from Jenna's room since I was little, and remove all sorts of interesting things from this flat for Ellen. Including huge green things. Anyway........ eventually I get the cockroach on the middle of the chair and Karthik gently lowers the cup. I slide the paper between the cup and the chair, and we've caught the cockroach! You would think we're doing well here.

Now Karthik makes me pick it up. So I carry the cup, wrapped in paper, to my open second storey window. And now I start to panic. What do I do? I imagine the cockroach escaping and running up my arm... So I gingerly start to unwrap the paper, envisaging shaking it out the window. Then I see a hole between the paper and the cup. The cockroach runs for it. I scream. And drop the cup, paper, and cockroach out the window.

Lara's post-encounter state - pounding heart and trembling. But still alive :)