A Case for Ancestral Transfer of Symbionts between Cockroaches and Termites

Living species of the cockroach family Cryptocercidae have intestinal symbionts that are congeneric with some of the gut protozoa found in Isoptera. Presence of such closely related symbionts in cryptocercids and in termites has been frequently interpreted as a uniquely derived homologous character shared between the two xylophagous groups. This may not be the most parsimonious interpretation. Cryptocercus nymphs placed into Zootermopsis (dampwood termite) colonies were killed and eaten by the termites. Termites placed into a Cryptocercus nest box were also fully consumed. Modern Cryptocercus punctulatus and Zootermopsis are often found in the same decaying logs in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.A., and it is likely that their ancestors also cohabited in at least a portion of their ranges. By occasionally killing and consuming an intruder from the other group, gut protozoa could have been acquired and exchanged between termites and Cryptocercus or their ancestors, under natural conditions and before the life histories of the protozoa became specialized within the host orders. Implications for assessing the phylogeny of the two dictyopteroid groups are also discussed.