Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Termites are 'social cockroaches'

UK scientists have said that they have produced the strongest evidence to date that termites are actually cockroaches.

They said their research shows that termites no long merited belonging to a different order (Isoptera), but should be treated as a family of cockroaches.

The findings appear in the Royal Society's Biology Letters journal.

One of the paper's co-authors, Paul Eggleton, explained why their research had unmasked termites' "true identity".

"In the past, people thought that because termites were so different in appearance, they belonged to a different order," he said.

Full Story: BBC

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