Webspinners

Order Embioptera

The Webspinners (Order Embioptera) includes 24 species across 5 families and 6 genera in our directory.

About Webspinners

Embioptera (webspinners) includes ~400 described species. They are unique among insects for spinning silk from glands in their front feet (tarsi) - the only insects to produce silk from their legs.

Economic Impact

Webspinners have minimal economic impact as they feed primarily on dead plant material. They are mostly tropical and subtropical, living in silk-lined tunnels under bark, rocks, or leaf litter.

Ecological Role

Webspinners are social insects that live in communal silk galleries. They can run equally fast forwards and backwards through their tunnels. Most species are wingless, though males of some species have wings.

Families in Embioptera (5)

Species in Embioptera (24)

Haploembia solieri

Oligotomidae

Identification: relatively easily identified by the lobster-like maculations on the body and those on the head that sometimes resemble flames [ S.D. Rider's comment ] exposed silken gallery (photo by Alex Wild)

Saunders' Webspinner

Oligotoma saundersii

Oligotomidae

Identification: Similar to O. nigra but a bit lighter in color and with a yellowish tinge, esp. near leg joints. In O. saundersii males, the head tends to be darker than the rest of the body (in O. nigra the whole insect is uniformly black). Females