Blattodea,
the cockroach, is truly an ancient insect design dating to the
Carboniferous, more than 300 million years ago, and a survivor
of several mass extensions on earth. Most people have heard it
said that cockroaches will remain on earth after humans have perished.
They truly are robust. Termites are often grouped with orders
Blattodea and Mantoda (mantids) to form superorder Dictyoptera,
and all of which appeared in the Carboniferous period. Indeed,
cockroaches are believed to be ancestral to termites. There are
some 4000 extant species, only 1% of which will live in homes.
Fossil
Cockroachs |
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Various
fossil cockroaches in amber. |
An
11-mm-long cockroach in amber |
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An
awesome, 8 mm-long cockroach in amber. |
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