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.
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.
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.
Families These 17 families belong to the superfamily Blattoidea:
Cockroaches Epifamily Blattoidae Anaplectidae Walker, 1868 Blattidae Latreille, 1810 Lamproblattidae McKittrick, 1964 Tryonicidae McKittrick & Mackerras, 1965
Epifamily Cryptocercoidae Cryptocercidae Handlirsch, 1925 (brown-hooded cockroaches)
Termites Epifamily Termitoidae Archotermopsidae Engel et al., 2009 (rottenwood termites) Hodotermitidae Desneux, 1904 Kalotermitidae Froggart, 1897 (drywood termites) Mastotermitidae Desneux 1904 Rhinotermitidae Froggart, 1897 (subterranean termites) Serritermitidae Holmgren, 1910 Stolotermitidae Holmgren, 1910 Stylotermitidae Holmgren & Holmgren, 1917 Termitidae Latreille, 1802 (higher termites) † Archeorhinotermitidae Krishna, 2003 † Cratomastotermitidae Engel et al., 2009 † Termopsidae Holmgren, 1911
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