ROACH BROOCH!?!
(for fz...)
Science 19 May 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5776, p. 979




Madagascar giant hissing cockroaches make fun pets, as some bug aficionados know. But Salt Lake City, Utah-based fashion designer Jared Gold has taken cockroach appreciation to a new level. He recently released a line of live, bejeweled hissing cockroaches, complete with several leashes that can be attached to a pin on a person's clothes. Austrian Swarovski crystals are embedded in the roaches' "hoods."
The glittering insects go for $80 online at blackchandelier.com, and Gold reports receiving about 25 orders a week. With proper care--the cockroaches come with instructions, which include cleaning their aquarium regularly, ensuring they receive a fruit-filled diet, and keeping them warm and moist--the insects can live about a year.

Not everyone is gung ho about the latest trend. Michael McGraw, spokesperson for the animal-rights group PETA, observes that "Mr. Gold is essentially mutilating [the animals] to sell them." Entomologist Shripat Kamble of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, adds that they may not be the ideal accessory: "Hissing cockroaches secrete certain irritants a lot of people are allergic to."
Credit: Maendi Brooks