Pride swelled at the Liberty Science Center today when we discovered that there are 1013 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches in the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach exhibit.

Animal Interpretation Associates, Allison (left) and Corinne (center) pose next to the final Cockroach Count tally with Fred Hartmann, Associate Director of Guest Programming (right).

The count wasn’t easy, but thanks to the hard work and determination of Allison and Corrine, our Animal Interpretation Associates, it wrapped up in a fairly quick seven hours.

As you might have learned from watching today, cockroaches are an under-appreciated lot considering how important they are to the planet. As detritivores, cockroaches consume the decomposing material left behind by other animals.

Congratulations to Joe Carroll, a Liberty Science Center guest who hypothesized that there were 1004 cockroaches in the exhibit. Joe had the closest guess and wins a Cockroach Count prize pack from LSC.

A special thank you to the Animal Husbandry staff who provided equipment, expertise, and moral support to Allison and Corrine as they counted. We hope many of you at home were able to tune in to watch Cockroach Count live and we hope many more of you can join us on Saturday as we celebrate the Pi Day of the Century.