Blattodea, the cockroach, is truly an ancient insect design dating to the Carboniferous, more than 300 million years ago, and a survivor of several mass extensions on earth. Most people have heard it said that cockroaches will remain on earth after humans have perished. They truly are robust. Termites are often grouped with orders Blattodea and Mantoda (mantids) to form superorder Dictyoptera, and all of which appeared in the Carboniferous period. Indeed, cockroaches are believed to be ancestral to termites. There are some 4000 extant species, only 1% of which will live in homes.

Fossil Cockroachs
Cockroach Fossil Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation Liaoning Province of China	22 mm Lower Cretaceous cockroach Crato Formation, Brazil	Various fossil cockroaches in amber.	An 11-mm-long cockroach in amber
An awesome, 8 mm-long cockroach in amber.	Lower Creatceous Yixian Formation, Chao Yang, Liaoning Province of China	Cockroach Fossil Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation, Brazil