Subsocial
Guides
Amaurobius ferox
black lace-weaver, black lace weaver
Amaurobius ferox is a nocturnal spider known for its distinctive cribellate web with woolly, lace-like silk. The species exhibits a unique subsocial organization among spiderlings, including synchronized molting, cooperative prey capture, and matriphagy—where offspring consume their mother after hatching. Native to Europe, it has been introduced to North America and is commonly found near human structures in dark, moist environments.
Anelosimus
cobweb spiders
Anelosimus is a genus of cobweb spiders (Theridiidae) renowned as a model system for studying the evolution of sociality in arachnids. The genus contains approximately 75 species exhibiting the full spectrum of social organization, from solitary to highly social (quasisocial). Eight quasisocial species have been documented, more than any other spider genus. Social species such as Anelosimus eximius form massive communal webs housing tens of thousands of individuals, while solitary species occur at higher altitudes and latitudes. The genus is cosmopolitan, with significant diversity in the Americas, Madagascar, and Australasia.
Anelosimus studiosus
tangle web spider, cobweb spider, social cobweb spider
Anelosimus studiosus is a subsocial tangle web spider in the family Theridiidae, distributed across much of North and South America from temperate to tropical regions. The species exhibits striking social polymorphism, with two distinct behavioral phenotypes: social spiders that live communally in large cooperative colonies, and asocial solitary individuals that defend individual territories. Social colonies involve multiple adult females sharing web maintenance, brood care, and cooperative prey capture without aggression. The frequency of the social phenotype increases at higher latitudes, correlating with colder temperatures where delayed juvenile development and maternal mortality risks favor communal living. Despite behavioral differences, the two phenotypes interbreed freely and produce viable offspring.
Ceratina calcarata
Spurred Ceratina
Ceratina calcarata is a small carpenter bee native to eastern North America, ranging from Georgia to Ontario and east to Nova Scotia. It exhibits facultative subsocial behavior, with mothers providing extended care to offspring and producing a distinctive worker-like "dwarf eldest daughter" that forages for siblings. This species has become an important model organism for studying the evolutionary origins of social behavior, being the first subsocial bee species to have its genome published.
Cryptocercidae
brown-hooded cockroaches, wood roaches
Cryptocercidae is a family of wingless, subsocial cockroaches comprising the single genus Cryptocercus. These insects are obligate inhabitants of decaying wood in temperate montane forests across eastern Asia and North America. They exhibit extended parental care and share wood-digesting gut symbionts with termites, supporting the hypothesis of termite evolution from within cockroaches. The family is notable for its limited dispersal ability and sensitivity to forest succession patterns.
Cryptocercus
wood roach, brown-hooded cockroach
Cryptocercus is a genus of wingless, wood-feeding cockroaches representing the sole member of family Cryptocercidae. These subsocial insects exhibit extended parental care and family-based social structure. The genus holds exceptional phylogenetic significance as the closest living relative to termites, sharing lignocellulose-digesting gut symbionts and providing key evidence for the evolutionary origin of termite eusociality from cockroach ancestors. Twelve described species inhabit temperate forests of North America and eastern Asia.
Cryptocercus garciai
wood roach
Cryptocercus garciai is a wood roach species discovered in 1998 in the Chattahoochee National Forest of northern Georgia. It was the second Cryptocercus species documented in North America, challenging the previous assumption that C. punctulatus was the sole representative of the genus on the continent. The species was named in honor of American musician Jerry Garcia. Like other members of its genus, it exhibits subsocial behavior and dependence on gut symbionts for wood digestion.
Cryptocercus punctulatus
brown-hooded cockroach, woodroach, wingless wood roach, eastern wood-eating cockroach
Cryptocercus punctulatus is a wingless, wood-feeding cockroach endemic to montane forests of the eastern United States. It is one of the few subsocial cockroach species, exhibiting extended biparental care of offspring over multiple years. The species harbors obligate cellulolytic flagellate symbionts in its hindgut, transferred to neonates through proctodeal trophallaxis by parents. Its life history—xylophagy, social behavior, and gut symbiosis—makes it a key model for understanding the evolutionary origins of termite eusociality.
Elasmucha
Parent shieldbugs
Elasmucha is a genus of shield bugs in the family Acanthosomatidae, commonly known as parent shieldbugs. Species in this genus are notable for exhibiting subsocial behavior, specifically extended maternal care of eggs and early nymphal stages. Females guard egg masses and remain with offspring through early instars, actively defending against predators and parasitoids. The genus includes arboreal species associated with specific host trees, with documented seasonal host plant switching in some species.
Flexamia huroni
Huron River Leafhopper
Flexamia huroni is a leafhopper species in the family Cicadellidae, described by Bess & Hamilton in 1999. It belongs to the genus Flexamia, a group of leafhoppers known for their specialized host plant associations with grasses. The species is named after the Huron River in Michigan, where it was first collected. Like other members of the genus, it likely exhibits strong ecological dependence on specific grass host plants.
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lobal-biodiversity-information-facilityesbiodiversity-image-portalspanish-collectionstype-specimenlichenantarcticabernensisliyellowstoneLabiduridae
striped earwigs
Labiduridae is a family of earwigs commonly known as striped earwigs, containing approximately 72 species across seven genera in three subfamilies. Members are moderate to large in size with cylindrical bodies, well-developed wings, and notably long antennae. The family exhibits cosmopolitan distribution and includes well-known species such as Labidura riparia (tawny earwig) and Nala lividipes. Many species display subsocial maternal care and predatory habits, with some serving as biological control agents of agricultural pests.
Odontotaenius disjunctus
patent-leather beetle, horned passalus, betsy beetle, Jerusalem beetle
Odontotaenius disjunctus is a large, flight-capable but predominantly walking beetle that inhabits decaying hardwood logs in temperate North American forests. Adults exhibit subsocial behavior, including cooperative brood care and acoustic communication via stridulation. The species plays a significant role in wood decomposition through specialized gut microbiomes that digest lignocellulose.
Oligotomidae
webspinners
Oligotomidae is a family of webspinners (order Embioptera) comprising approximately 6 genera and at least 40 described species. Members are characterized by silk-producing glands in the enlarged basal tarsomere of the forelegs, used to construct protective galleries. The family exhibits a predominantly Old World distribution with some introduced populations in the Americas. Notable genera include Oligotoma, Aposthonia, and Haploembia, with some species showing complex reproductive strategies including parthenogenesis.
Passalidae
Bess Beetles, Bessbugs, Betsy Beetles, Horned Passalus Beetles
Passalidae is a family of approximately 500–1000 species of beetles commonly known as bess beetles or patent-leather beetles. They are predominantly tropical and subtropical, with notable North American species distinguished by large size (20–43 mm), a single cephalic horn, and unusual social behavior among beetles. They are among the most important saproxylic insects for wood decomposition in forest ecosystems.
Rhynocoris
Flower Assassin Bugs
Rhynocoris is a genus of assassin bugs in the family Reduviidae, subfamily Harpactorinae. Species occur across Asia, mainland Europe, Africa, and North America. The genus exhibits subsocial behavior with parental care of egg masses, a trait that has evolved independently only six times in Heteroptera. Multiple species have been investigated as biological control agents for agricultural pests, particularly in cotton and other crop systems.
Sosippus californicus
Funnel-web wolf spider
Sosippus californicus is a large wolf spider in the family Lycosidae, notable for being one of the few web-building members of an otherwise nomadic hunting family. It constructs sheet-like webs with funnel-shaped retreats, superficially resembling those of true funnel-web weavers (Agelenidae). The species ranges from southern California through Arizona and Mexico to Costa Rica, where it is particularly abundant in riparian habitats.