Ar.84 Embioptera (webspinners)

 

Ar.84                                              Embioptera (webspinners)

 

Kingdom   :     Animalia

Phylum     :      Arthropoda

Class         :      Insecta

Order        :      Embioptera

 

Description: The order Embioptera (webspinners or embiids) is another group within the Orthopteroid complex that probably appeared early in the Carboniferous period. No other group of insects, fossil or modern, have silk-producing glands in the legs. The silk is used to construct elaborate nests and tunnels under leaves or bark. Webspinners live gregariously within these silken nests, feeding on grass, dead leaves, moss, lichens, or bark. Nymphs and adults are similar in appearance. Embiids rarely leave their silken tunnels; a colony grows by expanding its tunnel system to new food resources. Well-developed muscles in the hind legs allow these insects to run backward through their tunnels as easily as they run forward. Only adult males have wings. Front and hind wings are similar in shape and unusually flexible; they fold over the head when the insect runs backward through its tunnels. In Embioptera, the mouthparts are directed forward (prognathous) rather than downward as in other primitive orthropteroids.

 

IUCN Status: Not threatened