| Brown-hooded cockroaches | |
|---|---|
| Cryptocercus garciai | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Blattaria/Dictyoptera |
| Family: | Polyphagidae |
| Genus: | Cryptocercus Scudder, 1862 |
| Species | |
|
Cryptocercus kyebangensis |
|
Cryptocercus is a genus of Dictyoptera (cockroaches and allies) in the family Polyphagidae, of which this genus is the only member. Species are known as wood roaches or brown-hooded cockroaches. They are subsocial xylophagous insects, found in North America and Asia.
There are 9 known species.
Cryptocercus is especially notable for sharing numerous characteristics with termites, and phylogenetic studies have shown that this genus is more closely related to termites than it is to other cockroaches. Cryptocercus sp., apart from having a common ancestor with termites, have been placed within the Polyphagidae based on molecular analysis, and they are even closer relatives of Therea sp. (Grandcolas, 1996 and later).