Cockroach - Evolutionary History and Relationships

Evolutionary History and Relationships

Mantodea, Isoptera, and Blattaria are usually combined by entomologists into a higher group called Dictyoptera. Current evidence strongly suggests termites evolved directly from true cockroaches, and many authors now consider termites to be an epifamily of cockroaches, as the Blattaria excluding Isoptera are not a monophyletic group.

Historically, the name Blattaria has been used largely interchangeably with the name Blattodea, and this name is used for the order by the current world catalogue, the Blattodea Species File Online. Another name, Blattoptera has come into use for this same paraphyletic group. These earliest cockroach-like fossils ("blattopterans" or "roachids") are from the Carboniferous period between 354–295 million years ago. However, these fossils differ from modern cockroaches in having long external ovipositors and are the ancestors of mantises, as well as modern roaches. The first fossils of modern cockroaches with internal ovipositors appeared in the early Cretaceous.