Termites are eusocial insects that are classified at the taxonomic rank of infraorder Isoptera, or as epifamily Termitoidae within the order Blattodea. Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they are related to cockroaches, as they are the sister group to wood eating cockroaches of the genus Cryptocercus. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic. More recent estimates suggest they have an origin during the Late Jurassic, with the first fossil records in the Early Cretaceous. About 3,106 species are currently described, with a few hundred more left to be described. Although these insects are often called "white ants", they are not ants, and are not closely related to ants.
Dictyoptera is an insect superorder that includes two extant orders of polyneopterous insects: the order Blattodea and the order Mantodea (mantises). While all modern Dictyoptera have short ovipositors, the oldest fossils of Dictyoptera have long ovipositors, much like members of the Orthoptera.
Ectobiidae is a family of the order Blattodea (cockroaches). This family contains many of the smaller common household pest cockroaches, among others. They are sometimes called wood cockroaches. A few notable species include:
Cryptocercus is a genus of Dictyoptera and the sole member of its own family Cryptocercidae. Species are known as wood roaches or brown-hooded cockroaches. These roaches are subsocial, their young requiring considerable parental interaction. They also share wood-digesting gut bacteria types with wood-eating termites, and are therefore seen as evidence of a close genetic relationship, that termites are essentially evolved from social cockroaches.
Nocticolidae is a small family in the order Blattodea (cockroaches). It consists of only 32 known species in 9 genera. They are found in Africa, Asia and Australia. Most live in cave habitats, although a few are associated with termites. Cave adapted species are known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber, making them the oldest extant cavernicolous organisms.
Blattodea is an order of insects that contains cockroaches and 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 are now all considered part of the superorder Dictyoptera. Blattodea includes approximately 4,400 species of cockroach in almost 500 genera, and about 3,000 species of termite in around 300 genera.
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattodea, which also includes termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as pests.
Cavefish or cave fish is a generic term for fresh and brackish water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Related terms are subterranean fish, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreatic fish and hypogean fish.
Diploptera, also known as the beetle cockroach, is a genus of blaberid cockroaches. Cockroaches of this genus resemble beetles, with hardened tegmina and cross-folded hindwings. They live in tropical forests in South China and Southeast Asia, and Pacific islands including Hawaii. They are viviparous cockroaches and are therefore used for insect endocrinological studies. There are eight known species and two subspecies.
Therea petiveriana, variously called the desert cockroach, seven-spotted cockroach, or Indian domino cockroach, is a species of crepuscular cockroach found in southern India. They are members of a basal group within the cockroaches. This somewhat roundish and contrastingly marked cockroach is mainly found on the ground in scrub forest habitats where they may burrow under leaf litter or loose soil during the heat of the day.
Blattabacterium is a genus of obligate mutualistic endosymbiont bacteria that are believed to inhabit all species of cockroach studied to date, with the exception of the genus Nocticola. The genus' presence in the termite Mastotermes darwiniensis led to speculation, later confirmed, that termites and cockroaches are evolutionarily linked.
The Tryonicidae are a family of cockroaches.
Eublaberus distanti, known as the six-spotted, four-spotted, four-spot, or Trinidad bat-cave roach or cockroach, is a primarily cave-dwelling Central and South American cockroach of the genus Eublaberus.
Corydioidea is a superfamily of insects in the order Blattodea, the cockroaches and termites. It contains two extant families, Corydiidae and Nocticolidae, comprising about fifty genera and two hundred and fifty species, along with the extinct family Liberiblattinidae. Members of this superfamily are found worldwide, mostly in hot, arid habitats.
Blattoidea is a superfamily of cockroaches and termites in the order Blattodea. There are about 17 families and more than 4,100 described species in Blattoidea.
Nocticola gerlachi, or Gerlach's cockroach, is a species of cockroach in the family Nocticolidae. Nocticola gerlachi are found in the Seychelles, an archipelago off the African Coast. The cockroach is brown in color with "whitish" legs. The species is named after Justin Gerlach, who discovered them. Only male specimens have been collected. Females are unknown.
The UPLB Museum of Natural History is a natural science and natural history museum within the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) campus. It serves as a center for documentation, research, and information of flora and fauna of the Philippines. The museum is one of the research and extension units of the UPLB and its role parallels that of a library for written records.
