Blattaria

Wood roaches Cryptocercus, copyright David R. Maddison.

Belongs within: Dictyoptera.
Contains: Corydiidae, Blaberidae, Blattellidae, Polyzosteriinae, Blattinae.

The Blattaria include the crown-group cockroaches, with some studies regarding the termites as derived from within this clade. They are characterised by the production of eggs contained within a hard ootheca that is ancestrally deposited free on the ground. The outer ovipositor valves are completely internal, and the central ocellus is reduced (Vršanský 2010). Members of the Blattaria include the wood roaches Cryptocercus of North America and Asia, which possess wood-digesting gut bacteria and a subsocial lifestyle. The Blattidae, which include some of the more economically significant large cockroaches, possess symmetrical styles in the males and a bivalvular subgenital plate in the females (Roth 1991). The small species of the Australasian genus Tryonicus, which have reduced spination on the femora and short, stout cerci, have historically been treated as part of the Blattidae but are currently placed as their own family. The female subgenital plate may also be bivalvular in the Polyphagidae which are otherwise characterised by a flat anal area in the hind wing (if present), lacking fan-like pleating, and small or no spines on the underside of the mid and hind femora. The Nocticolidae are small, delicate cockroaches that are commonly cavernicolous.

<==Blattaria [Blaberoidea, Blattellomorpha, Epilampridae]
    |--Cryptocercus Scudder 1862 [Cryptocercidae] V10
    |    |--C. clevelandi GE05
    |    |--C. darwini GE05
    |    |--C. garciai GE05
    |    |--C. primarius GE05
    |    |--C. punctulatus GE05
    |    |--C. relictus GE05
    |    `--C. wrighti GE05
    `--+--+--Lamproblatta GE05 [Lamproblattidae BP10, Lamproblattinae]
       |  `--Polyphagidae V10
       |       |  i. s.: Therea GE05
       |       |         Arenivaga WL09
       |       |           |--A. apacha WL09
       |       |           |--A. grata C90
       |       |           `--A. investigata C90
       |       |         Eremoblatta subdiaphana C90
       |       |         Tivia australica M70
       |       |         Austropolyphaga R91a
       |       |         Polyphagoides R91a
       |       |--Lantindiinae VVR02
       |       |--Polyrhaga Kirby 1904 H02 [Polyphaginae RD77, Polyphagini]
       |       |--Atticolinae RD77
       |       |--Eutyrrhypha P92 [Euthyrrhaphinae VVR02]
       |       |    `--E. pacifica P92
       |       `--Vitisma Vršanský 1999 [Vitisminae] V02
       |            `--V. rasnitsyni Vršanský 1999 V02
       `--Blattoidea V02
            |--+--Blaberidae V10
            |  `--Blattellidae GE05
            |--Mesoblattinidae V02
            |    |--Hispanoblatta sumptuosa VVR02
            |    |--Austroblattula F71
            |    |--Mesoblattina Geinitz 1880 V02
            |    |    `--M. protypa Geinitz 1880 V02
            |    `--Artitocoblatta Handlirsch 1906 VVR02, V02
            |         |--*A. gossi (Scudder 1886) [=Rithma gossi] V02
            |         `--A. asiatica VVR02
            `--Blattidae [Blattomorpha] V10
                 |  i. s.: Stantoniella GE05
                 |         Stylopyga orientalis B01
                 |         Celatoblatta R91a
                 |         Shelfordella tartara H02, BM76
                 |         Euthlastoblatta G37
                 |         Apotrogia Kirby 1900 K00
                 |           `--*A. angolensis Kirby 1900 K00
                 |         Dorylaea rhombifolia (see below for synonymy) K00
                 |         Deropeltis K00
                 |           |--D. atra Brunn. 1865 K00
                 |           |--D. brevicollis (Serv. 1839) [=Kakerlac brevicollis; incl. D. juncea Sauss. 1864] K00
                 |           |--D. capensis (Sauss. 1864) (see below for synonymy) K00
                 |           |--D. distanti Kirby 1900 K00
                 |           |--D. erythrocephala (Fabr. 1761) [=Blatta erythrocephala] K00
                 |           |--D. melanophila K00
                 |           |--D. meridionalis K00
                 |           `--D. similis (Sauss. 1864) [=Ischnoptera similis; incl. Nauphoeta foveolata Walker 1868] K00
                 |--Macrocerca [Macrocercinae] R96
                 |--Polyzosteriinae R91a
                 `--Blattinae R91a

Blattaria incertae sedis:
  Loboptera decipiens BM76
  Latiblatella rehni BM76
  Tryonicus R91a [Tryonicidae BP10, Tryonicinae]
    `--T. parvus R96
  Corydiidae H02
  Cainoblattinopsis Ping 1931 [Cainoblattinidae] H02
    `--C. fushunensis Ping 1931 H02
  Heterogamia [Heterogamiidae] K00
    `--H. ursina Burm. 1839 (see below for synonymy) K00
  Nocticolidae R91a
    |--Nocticola V10
    |    |--N. australiensis R91a
    |    |--N. babindaensis R91b
    |    |--N. flabella Roth 1991 BP10
    |    |--N. rohini (Fernando 1957) [=Paraloboptera rohini] R91b
    |    |--N. simoni R91b
    |    `--N. termitophila V10
    `--Cardacus willeyi R91b

Deropeltis capensis (Sauss. 1864) [=Polyzosteria capensis; incl. Periplaneta collaris Walk. 1868, Deropeltis flavomarginata Brunn. 1868] K00

Dorylaea rhombifolia [=Blatta rhombifolia, Periplaneta rhombifolia; incl. P. decorata Brunn. 1865, P. heterospila Walk. 1871, P. histrio Sauss. 1864] K00

Heterogamia ursina Burm. 1839 [incl. H. conspersa Brunn. 1865, H. marismortui Jans. 1891, H. syriaca Kruass 1890] K00

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BM76] Bohart, R. M., & A. S. Menke. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World. University of California Press: Berkeley.

[BP10] Bohn, H., M. Picker, K.-D. Klass & J. Colville. 2010. A jumping cockroach from South Africa, Saltoblattella montistabularis, gen. nov., spec. nov. (Blattodea: Blattellidae). Arthropod Systematics and Phylogeny 68 (1): 53–69.

[B01] Bolivar, I. 1901. Orthopterák [Orthoptères]. In: Horváth, G. (ed.) Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazása [Dritte Asiatische Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] vol. 2. Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazásának Állattani Eredményei [Zoologische Ergebnisse der Dritten Asiatischen Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] pp. 223–243. Victor Hornyánszky: Budapest, and Karl W. Hierseman: Leipzig.

[C90] Crawford, C. S. 1990. Scorpiones, Solifugae, and associated desert taxa. In: Dindal, D. L. (ed.) Soil Biology Guide pp. 421–475. John Wiley & Sones: New York.

[F71] Fletcher, H. O. 1971. Catalogue of type specimens of fossils in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Australian Museum Memoir 13: 1–167.

[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.

[G37] Gurney, A. B. 1937. Studies in certain genera of American Blattidae (Orthoptera). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 39 (5): 101–112.

[H02] Hong Y. 2002. Amber Insect of China. Beijing Scientific and Technological Publishing House.

[K00] Kirby, W. F. 1900. Notes on a collection of African Blattidae, chiefly from the Transvaal, formed by Mr. W. L. Distant. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 5: 277–294.

[M70] Mackerras, M. J. 1970. Blattodea (cockroaches). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 262–274. Melbourne University Press.

[P92] Poinar, G. O., Jr. 1992. Life in Amber. Stanford University Press: Stanford.

[R96] Rentz, D. 1996. Grasshopper Country: The abundant orthopteroid insects of Australia. University of New South Wales Press: Sydney.

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms' General Textbook of Entomology 10^th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

[R91a] Roth, L. M. 1991a. Blatttodea. Blattaria (cockroaches). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 1 pp. 320–329. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[R91b] Roth, L. M. 1991b. A new cave-dwelling cockroach from Western Australia (Blattaria: Nocticolidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 15 (1): 17–21.

[V02] Vršanský, P. 2002. Origin and the early evolution of mantises. AMBA Projekty 6 (1): 1–16.

[V10] Vršanský, P. 2010. Cockroach as the earliest eusocial animal. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 84 (4): 793–808.

[VVR02] Vršanský, P., V. N. Vishniakova & A. P. Rasnitsyn. 2002. Order Blattida Latreille, 1810. The cockroaches (=Blattodea Brunner von Wattenvill, 1882). In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 263–270. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.

[WL09] Walter, D. E., E. E. Lindquist, I. M. Smith, D. R. Cook & G. W. Krantz. 2009. Order Trombidiformes. In: Krantz, G. W., & D. E. Walter (eds) A Manual of Acarology 3^rd ed. pp. 233–420. Texas Tech University Press.

Last updated: 21 May 2022.