A team of scientists have discovered the horrible monster bug from all New Yorkers' nightmares. The "leaproach" is a cockroach capable of sailing short distances through the air and landing, possibly, on your face:

The newly discovered leaproach, which looks like a cockroach but acts like a grasshopper, is described in the journal Biology Letters.

Just four-tenths of an inch long, it can jump up to 50 body lengths in a single jump.

The cockroach has large hind legs that make up 20 percent of its body weight. Its bulging eyes provide a broad field of vision that is useful while landing, said one of the study's authors, Mike Picker, an entomologist at the University of Cape Town.

The face-attacking cockroach leap monster "outcompetes locusts, which can only manage to jump 20 times body length." Gahh. [NYT, Biology Letters via Flavorpill, image via entomologist Mike Picker]