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Abstract
Despite more than half a century of research, the evolutionary origin of termites
remains unresolved [1] [2] [3]. A clear picture of termite ancestry is crucial for
understanding how these insects evolved eusociality, particularly because they lack
the haplodiploid genetic system associated with eusocial evolution in bees, ants,
wasps and thrips [4] [5]. Termites, together with cockroaches and praying mantids,
constitute the order Dictyoptera, which has been the focus of numerous conflicting
phylogenetic studies in recent decades [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]. With the aim
of settling the debate over the sister-group of termites, we have determined the sequences
of genes encoding 18S ribosomal RNA, mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit II (COII)
and endogenous endo-beta-1, 4-glucanase (EG) from a diverse range of dictyopterans.
Maximum parsimony and likelihood analyses of these sequences revealed strong support
for a clade consisting of termites and subsocial, wood-feeding cockroaches of the
genus Cryptocercus. This clade is nested within a larger cockroach clade, implicating
wood-feeding cockroaches as an evolutionary intermediate between primitive non-social
taxa and eusocial termites.