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                        Introduction                                                                                                                                                    Contents

 

Entomology:  EMBIOPTERA 1

Kingdom:  Animalia, Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum: Hexapoda: Class: Insecta: Order: Embioptera

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Pteragota:  Paurometabola

  Order:  Embioptera (10 Families)

    General Summary

    References      Citations

    Sample Examinations

 

 

General Summary of Embioptera

 

          Embioptera are the "web spinners" that occur in forest litter in mostly tropical and subtropical regions.  They are small cylindrical insects with elongated and flattened bodies.  They have two pairs of similar wings with reduced venation.  The females are apterous, while their cerci are 2-jointed.  Males are either winged or apterous and their cerci are asymmetrical.   Metamorphosis is not present in females but occurs only slightly in males.

 

 

          Their common name is derived from their ability to spin silken webs.  They have a web spinning apparatus on the front tarsus.  The webs are spun in tunnels, which serve as protection and as pathways for foraging.  They are long and slender insects with short legs that enable them to run backwards and forwards.  Many species are gregarious, living in tunnels formed of silk produced by tarsal glands as in Embia major of India (Borradaile & Potts, 1958).

 

 

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Details of Insect Taxonomic Groups

 

          Examples of beneficial species occur in almost every insect order, and considerable information on morphology and habits has been assembled.  Therefore, the principal groups of insect parasitoids and predators provide details that refer to the entire class Insecta.  These details are available at <taxnames.htm>.

 

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References

 

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