The High Line, a park that turned a dilapidated stretch of elevated railway on Manhattan’s West Side into one of New York’s newest tourist attractions, may have brought a different kind of visitor: a cockroach that can withstand harsh winter cold and never seen before in the U.S.

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 it is too soon to predict the impact but that there is probably little cause for concern…

Michael Scharf, a professor of urban entomology at Purdue University, said the discovery is something to monitor.

“To be truly invasive, a species has to move in and take over and out-compete a native species,” he said. “There’s no evidence of that, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned about it…”

Periplaneta japonica has special powers not seen in the local roach population: It can survive outdoors in the freezing cold…

The likelihood that the new species will mate with the locals to create a hybrid super-roach is slim.

MIMIC is one of my favorite sci-fi flicks. That it had a terrific cast along with solid writing did it no harm. The CGI was an early example of just how intricate and realistic computer-generated illustration was becoming in the movie world.

I will wait and watch. Bwahahaha!