Blattoidea

Blattoidea
Cockroach, Archiblatta beccarii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Superfamily: Blattoidea
Latreille, 1810
Pacific Coast Dampwood Termite, Zootermopsis angusticollis

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.[1][2]

The 12 families of termites are sometimes considered members of the suborder Isoptera, but recent phylogenetic analysis places them within the cockroach superfamily Blattoidea. Within Blattoidea, the termites are grouped under the epifamily Termitoidae.[3][4]

The great coal deposits of the Carboniferous Period have been attributed in part to the lack of wood-consuming insects such as blattoids, which do not appear in the fossil record until the late Carboniferous.[5][6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference itis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Beccaloni2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Beccaloni2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Shaw, Scott R. Planet of the bugs: evolution and the rise of insects. Chicago. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9780226163758.
  5. ^ McGhee, George R. Carboniferous giants and mass extinction: the late Paleozoic Ice Age world. New York. p. 99. ISBN 9780231180979.