Phylogenetic status, distribution, and biogeography of Cryptocercus (Dictyoptera : Cryptocercidae)

Recent morphological studies on Blattaria, as well as molecular data on bot h these insects and their fat body bacterial endosymbionts, do not agree wi th Grandcolas's phylogenetic placement of Cryptocercus deep within the Poly phaginae [Grandeolas, P. 1999. Systematics, Endosymbiosis, and Biogeography of Cryptocercus clevelandi and C. punctulatus (Blattaria: Polyphagidae) fr om North America: a Phylogenetic Perspective. Ann. Entomol. Sec. Am. 92: 28 5-291]. Therefore, we retain the traditional classification and proposed ge ographic time frame for evolution of this taxon, which is supported by rece nt estimations of molecular evolution on endosymbionts (70-25 MYBP) and by geological evidence indicating a window of opportunity for transcontinental movement in North America for an insect with the ecological requirements o f Cryptocerucus (65-34 MYBP). Further refinement and integration of these h ypotheses with the biogeography of related taxa, awaits the development of a single, phylogenetically based, internationally accepted classification o f relevant cockroach genera, and an explicit delineation of the relationshi ps among extant species of Cryptocercus.