Ants are closely related to termites

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Partially true
• D. Not enough information

Answer: (B)

Taxonomy and evolutionary history explain why ants and termites are not closely related, despite their similar colony life. Ants belong to the order Hymenoptera (with bees and wasps), while termites are placed in Blattodea (the group that includes cockroaches). This places them in different major lineages within insects, indicating a distant relationship rather than a close one. While both groups exhibit eusociality and caste systems, those similarities arise from convergent evolution in response to living in large, cooperative colonies, not from a recent common ancestor. Genetic and taxonomic evidence shows termites are more closely related to cockroaches than to ants, so the statement is not accurate.