Webspinners are tiny bugs.
They make silk homes. They spin silk with their legs. These homes look like webs. It keeps them safe. Do you like webs?
Webspinners are small bugs.
They have long, thin bodies. Most of them live in warm lands. They live in groups.
These bugs make silk homes. They spin silk with their front legs. The silk makes tiny tunnels. These tunnels look like webs. They stay inside to be safe.
Most females do not have wings. They stay near their homes. Some males have wings. These males can fly to find mates. They do not eat as adults.
Mothers take care of their eggs. They guard them in the silk. This helps the babies grow. The babies look like small adults. They grow by changing many times.
Webspinners are very fast. They can move forward and backward. They use their long feelers to feel the way. It is a busy life in the web.
Webspinners are small insects that live in warm places.
They have long, thin bodies. These bodies help them fit into tight spaces. Most webspinners live in groups.
They make silk tunnels to live in. They spin this silk using special parts on their front legs. These silk tunnels are called galleries.
In these galleries, females and their babies live together. The females take great care of their eggs. Some mothers guard their eggs very closely. They even use vibrations to warn others to stay away. After the eggs hatch, the babies look like small adults. They go through hemimetabolosis. This is a way of growing where they change in steps. They shed their skin four times before they are adults.
Only some males have wings.
These males use their wings to fly and find mates. To fly, they use hemolymph, which is like blood. This fluid fills tiny parts of the wings to make them stiff.
Females do not have wings. They stay near the place they were born. Webspinners are also very fast. They can move quickly both forward and backward through their silk homes.
Webspinners are small, fascinating insects found mostly in warm, tropical places.
They belong to a group called Embioptera, which means "lively wings." This name might describe how fast they move forward and backward. Most webspinners have long, narrow, and flexible bodies. This shape helps them fit inside the tight spaces where they live. They are social creatures that live in groups called colonies.
These colonies are built inside silk tunnels called galleries.
Making these silk homes is a very special way of life. Webspinners use glands on their front legs to spin many strands of silk.
They use this silk to build protective galleries and chambers. Most of the colony is made of related females and their young. Females take great care of their eggs in these tunnels. Some mothers even guard their eggs by standing over them. They can use vibrations to warn other insects to stay away.
Scientists have studied these insects for a very long time. The name Embioptera was suggested by Arthur Shipley in 1904. Before that, people used many different names for them. In 1909, a scientist named Günther Enderlein used the name Embiidina. Fossil evidence shows that webspinners are very old. Some fossils, like Sinembia rossi, come from the Middle Jurassic period. These fossils were found in Inner Mongolia.
There are many different types of webspinners in the world. Scientists have described more than 400 species in 11 different families. Some experts think there might be as many as 2,000 species alive today. Most webspinners are colored brown or black. Some can even be pink or reddish.
In many species, only the adult males have wings. The males use their wings to fly and find mates. To fly, they use a process called hydraulics. They fill tiny veins in their wings with hemolymph, which is their blood. This makes the wings stiff enough to use for flight.
Webspinners have many features that help them navigate their silk homes. They have long, flexible antennae so they do not get stuck in the silk.
They also have special sensors on their tails called cerci. These cerci are very sensitive to touch. They help the insect move backward through narrow tunnels. Since they cannot turn around in the tight galleries, moving backward is very important. This allows them to travel easily through their silk world.
The order Embioptera consists of small insects known as webspinners or footspinners.
These insects are mostly found in tropical and subtropical regions. They belong to the subclass Pterygota, which includes many winged insects. Scientists have described more than 400 species across 11 different families. Some researchers estimate that there may be as many as 2,000 species living today. Webspinners are unique because they are gregarious and subsocial. This means they live together in organized groups called colonies.
Webspinners live in complex structures called galleries. These are silk tunnels and chambers that they spin themselves. To build these homes, they use special glands located on their front legs. Specifically, the enlarged basal tarsomere on the front pair of legs produces multiple strands of silk.
The insects use this silk to create a protective environment. They rarely venture far from these galleries. Some females may leave a colony to start a new one nearby. Others may move to find new food sources to extend the silk tunnels. This silk-making ability is why they are called webspinners.
Every webspinner has a body shape designed for life in tight spaces. Their bodies are long, narrow, cylindrical, and highly flexible. Their heads feature projecting mouthparts with chewing mandibles.
They have kidney-shaped compound eyes and long, thread-like antennae. These antennae can have up to 32 segments. Because the antennae are flexible, they do not get tangled in the silk. They also have cerci on the end of their abdomen. Cerci are two-segmented structures that are very sensitive to touch. Since the tunnels are too narrow to turn around in, the insects use these sensors to navigate while moving backward.
Wing use in Embioptera varies between the sexes. In most species, all females and nymphs are wingless. Adult males can be either winged or wingless depending on the species. When males do have wings, they use a process called hydraulics to fly.
Before flight, tiny chambers called sinus veins in the wings inflate with hemolymph. Hemolymph is the insect's blood. This inflation makes the wings rigid enough for use. When the insect lands, the chambers deflate and the wings become flexible again. The wings also have a crosswise crease. This allows the male to fold his wings forward so they do not snag while he darts backward.
Fossil evidence shows that webspinners have a very long history. The oldest known fossils come from the Middle Jurassic period in Inner Mongolia. These fossils include species named Sinembia rossi and Juraembia ningchengensis.
These ancient insects belong to a special family called Sinembiidae. Other fossils have been found in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar. Many fossils have also been discovered in Eocene Baltic amber and Miocene Dominican amber. These discoveries help scientists understand how the group has changed over millions of years.
The study of webspinner names has changed over time. The name Embioptera comes from Greek words meaning "lively wings." This name might refer to their fast movement rather than just flight. In 1904, Arthur Shipley suggested the name Embioptera, which is now the most accepted name. Earlier, the scientist Günther Enderlein used the name Embiidina in 1909. Other names like Embiomorpha were suggested by Edward S. Ross in 2007. Before these names were settled, entomologists thought webspinners were related to termites or neuropterans.
Life in a colony involves significant maternal care. Adult females often live with their offspring and other related females.
Mothers protect their eggs in different ways. Some attach eggs to the silk, while others bury them in silk masses. Some females even use saliva to fix eggs in rows on bark. Many mothers guard their eggs closely. If an intruder approaches, the female can use vibratory signals to deter them. This subsocial behavior helps the young survive. After hatching, some mothers even feed the nymphs with chewed leaf litter. This care ensures the survival of the female's genetic lineage.
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