The changes in recent research tell us that the comparison of ants and termites is all wrong. The current scientific termite data shows that termites may look similar to ants, but in actuality, they are descendants of a common ancestor of cockroaches and mantids. Ants derive from the bee and wasp lineage. Who would have thought that termites are actually social cockroaches that split off from the roach order more than 130 million years ago!
The earliest termite fossil known in existence dates back to over 130 million years ago and it resembles a mantis-looking cockroach.
It has been concluded that the mantids, termites, and cockroaches together into the same sister group. Meaning they are hanging out together on the same branch of the insect family trree.
What do these “Sisters” have in Common?
- Mantids, termites, and roaches are related because they’re all in the same Superorder – Dictyoptera. And they have all descended from a common ancient ancestor.
- There are some physiological and anatomical features that group these gals together. They include the production of oothecae, an enlarged subgenital plate, a perforated cephalic tentorium, and a toothed proventriculus.
- They have mouthparts for chewing, leathery wings, and the ability of the female to carry eggs on the abdomen.
- Termites and Wood roaches have symbiotic microbes in their gut that help in the digestion of wood (this is not the case for mantids).
The Science behind the discovery:
After conducting the most exhaustive genetic analyses yet, studying 107 different species of termites, cockroaches, and mantises from across the globe, entomologist Paul Eggleton at the Natural History Museum in London and his colleagues have concluded that termites are indeed a family of cockroaches.
The argument for Sisterhood.
If mantids and cockroaches are “Sisters”, and cockroaches and termites are “Sisters” doesn’t it stand that mantids and termites are sisters too?
Boudreaux (1979), Thorne & Carpenter (1992), DeSalle et al. (1992), Kambhampati (1995), and Wheeler et al. (2001) argue for a sister group relationship between mantids and cockroaches.
Hennig (1981), Kristensen (1995), Klass (1998), and Lo et al. (2000) favor a sister group relationship between termites and cockroaches.