Blattodea
| Blattodea Temporal range: 228–0 Ma Late Triassic – Recent |
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| Domino cockroach Therea petiveriana | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Superorder: | Dictyoptera |
| Order: |
Blattodea Wattenwyl, 1882 |
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Blattodea is an order of insects that contains the cockroaches and the termites. Formerly, the termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetic and molecular evidence suggests an intimate relationship with the cockroaches, both cockroaches and termites having evolved from a common ancestor. The Blattodea and the mantises (order Mantodea) are now all considered part of the superorder Dictyoptera. There are approximately 4,400 species of cockroach in almost 500 genera, and about 3,000 species of termite in around 300 genera.
Cladistic analysis of five DNA sequences in 107 species representing all the termite subfamilies, all six cockroach families, including 22 of the 29 subfamilies, and 5 of the 15 mantis families (as out-groups) showed that the termites are nested within the cockroaches, and that the is a sister group to the termites. The mantids were shown to be the sister group to Blattodea.Cryptocercus also shares characteristics such as species of gut bacteria with the termites.
The evolutionary relationships of the Blattodea (cockroaches and termites), based on Eggleton, Beccaloni & Inward (2007), are shown in the cladogram: The cockroach families Lamproblattidae and Tryonicidae are not shown but are placed within the superfamily Blattoidea. The cockroach families Corydiidae and Ectobiidae were previously known as the Polyphagidae and Blattellidae.
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