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Termites are eusocial insects which are categorized in the taxonomic rank of infraorder Isoptera, or as epifamily Termitoidae within the cockroach order Blattodea. Termites were once classified in another sequence from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from near ancestors of cockroaches during the Jurassic or Triassic.
Approximately 3,106 species are currently described, using a couple hundred more left to be clarified. Although these insects are often called"white ants", they're not ants. .
Like ants and a few bees and wasps in the distinct order Hymenoptera, termites divide labour among castes consisting of sterile male and female"employees" and"soldiers". All colonies have fertile males called"kings" and one or more fertile females called"queens". Termites chiefly feed on dead plant material and cellulose, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung.
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Termites are among the most successful groups of insects on Earth, colonising most landmasses except Antarctica. Their colonies range in size from a couple hundred individuals to enormous societies using many million individuals. Termite queens have the longest lifespan of any insect in the world, with some queens allegedly living around 30 to 50 years.
Colonies are called superorganisms since the termites form part of a self-regulating entity: the colony itself. .
Termites are a delicacy in the diet of some human civilizations and are used in many traditional medicines. Several hundred species are economically significant as insects which can cause serious damage to buildings, plants, or plantation forests. Some species, like the West Indian drywood termite (Cryptotermes brevis), are considered as invasive species. .
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The infraorder name Isoptera comes from the Greek words iso (equal) and ptera (winged), which refers to the nearly equivalent size of their fore and hind wings.2"Termite" derives from the Latin and Late Latin word termes ("woodworm, white ant"), modified by the influence of Latin terere ("to rub, wear, erode") by the earlier word tarmes.
The external appearance of this giant northern termite Mastotermes darwiniensis is indicative of the intimate relationship between termites and cockroaches.
Termites were previously placed in the order Isoptera. As early as 1934 suggestions were made that they were closely related to wood-eating cockroaches (genus Cryptocercus, the woodroach) based on the similarity of their symbiotic gut flagellates.6 In the 1960s additional evidence supporting that hypothesis emerged when F. A. McKittrick noted similar morphological characteristics between some termites and Cryptocercus nymphs.7 In 2008 DNA analysis from 16S rRNA sequences8 supported the position of termites being nested within the evolutionary tree containing the order Blattodea, which included the cockroaches.910 The cockroach genus Cryptocercus shares the strongest phylogenetical similarity with termites and is considered to be a sister-group to termites.1112 Termites and Cryptocercus share similar morphological and social features: for instance, most cockroaches do not display societal characteristics, but Cryptocercus takes good care of its own young and exhibits other social behaviour like trophallaxis and allogrooming.13 Termites are regarded as the descendants of the genus Cryptocercus.914 Some researchers have suggested a more conservative measure of retaining the termites since the Termitoidae, an epifamily within the cockroach sequence, which averts the classification of termites in family level and under.15 Termites have long been accepted to be closely associated with cockroaches and mantids, and they're classified in the exact same superorder (Dictyoptera).1617.
The earliest unambiguous termite fossils date to the early Cretaceous, but given the diversity of Cretaceous termites and ancient fossil records showing mutualism between microorganisms and such insects, they probably originated before in the Jurassic or Triassic.181920 Further evidence of a Jurassic origin is the assumption that the extinct Fruitafossor consumed termites, judging from the morphological similarity to modern termite-eating mammals.21 The oldest termite nest discovered is thought to be from the Upper Cretaceous in West Texas, in which the earliest known faecal pellets have been discovered.22 Claims that termites emerged earlier have faced controversy.
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Weesner indicated the Mastotermitidae termites may return to the late Permian, 251 million years ago,23 and fossil wings that have a close resemblance to the wings of Mastotermes of the Mastotermitidae, the toughest living , have been discovered in the Permian layers in Kansas.24 it's even possible that the very first termites emerged during the Carboniferous.25 The folded wings of this fossil wood roach Pycnoblattina, arranged in a convex pattern between segments 1a and 2a, resemble those seen in Mastotermes, the only living insect with the same pattern.24 Krishna et al., though, consider that all of the Paleozoic and Triassic insects tentatively classified as termites are in fact unrelated to termites and needs to be excluded from the Isoptera.26 The primitive giant northern termite (Mastotermes darwiniensis) exhibits numerous cockroach-like characteristics that are click not shared with other termites, like laying its eggs in rafts and having anal lobes on the wings.27 Cryptocercidae and Isoptera are united in the clade Xylophagidae.28 Termites are sometimes known as"white ants" but the only resemblance to the ants is because of their sociality that's because of convergent evolution2930 with termites being the very first social insects to evolve a caste system more than 100 million years back.31 Termite genomes are generally comparatively large in comparison to that of other insects; the first completely sequenced termite genome, of Zootermopsis nevadensis, that was printed in the journal Nature Communications, consists of approximately 500Mb,32 while 2 subsequently published genomes, Macrotermes natalensis and Cryptotermes secundus, are considerably larger at around 1.3Gb.3330.