Water-repellent-silk

Guides

• Embiidina

  webspinners, footspinners

  Embiidina is a small order of cryptic, soft-bodied insects known as webspinners or footspinners, characterized by their unique ability to produce silk from specialized glands located in their swollen foretarsi. They construct extensive silk galleries or tunnels under bark, in leaf litter, or within soil crevices, which serve as protective shelters and foraging sites. The order exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism: females are wingless and neotenic, remaining in galleries throughout their lives, while males of most species develop wings and disperse to locate mates. Webspinners are primarily tropical in distribution and display facultatively communal behavior with maternal care of eggs and young.

  silk-productionsexual-dimorphismmaternal-caretropical-insectscryptic-insectsbiomimicryneotenygregarious-behaviorEdward-S.-Rossfootspinnersnanofiber-silkwater-repellent-silkintroduced-speciesdecomposers

• Haploembia

  webspinners

  Haploembia is a genus of webspinners (order Embioptera) in the family Oligotomidae, containing at least three described species. Native to the Mediterranean region, members of this genus have been introduced and naturalized in California and other areas. These insects are notable for producing silk from specialized glands on their forelegs, which they use to construct protective tunnel systems. Species within this genus exhibit distinct reproductive strategies: Haploembia tarsalis is parthenogenetic, while H. solieri reproduces sexually.

  webspinnersilk-productionparthenogenesisintroduced-speciesMediterranean-faunaCalifornia-faunanano-scale-silkwater-repellent-silk