Invertebrates
Webspinner
Embioptera · also called webspinners
Beneath a loose piece of bark, a webspinner darts backward through its own silk tunnel with exactly the same speed and ease it would use moving forward, disappearing into a gallery it spun entirely from silk produced in its own front legs.
Overview
The webspinner, order Embioptera, is a small, silk-producing insect found in forest and rainforest habitat across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Its unique leg-based silk glands and near-total reliance on self-spun tunnel galleries make it one of the more behaviourally distinctive insect groups, one whose very name describes exactly what it does.
A life built entirely out of silk
Unlike most silk-producing animals, which use it mainly for capturing prey or protecting eggs, the webspinner has made silk the literal foundation of its entire habitat, spinning the tunnels it will spend nearly its whole life moving through in either direction.
Status
Not Evaluated — present across suitable tropical and subtropical forest habitat worldwide, with no documented widespread decline.
Webspinner: common questions
Where does a webspinner's silk actually come from?
A webspinner produces silk from specialised glands located in its front legs rather than from the abdomen, a highly unusual method of silk production not found in any other insect order, and it uses this silk to construct the tunnel galleries where it spends almost its entire life.
Why is the webspinner's order name unusual among insects?
The webspinner order, Embioptera, is often noted as the only insect order named specifically for a behaviour, silk spinning, rather than for a physical body feature or other taxonomic characteristic, a naming distinction that directly reflects how central silk production is to the group's entire way of life.
Can a webspinner really run backward as fast as forward?
Yes, a webspinner can move backward through its narrow silk tunnels just as quickly and efficiently as it moves forward, an adaptation that makes good sense for an insect spending nearly all of its time within confined galleries too tight to easily turn around in.
Do all webspinners have wings?
No, female webspinners and immature nymphs are always wingless, remaining within the silk gallery system for their entire lives, while males of most species do develop wings, primarily used for dispersal flights to locate and mate with females in other colonies.