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Choreography Of Silk Spinning By Webspinners (Insecta: Embioptera) Reflects Lifestyle And Hints At Phylogeny, David Mcmillan, Kyle Hohu, Janice Edgerly-Rooks Feb 2016

Choreography Of Silk Spinning By Webspinners (Insecta: Embioptera) Reflects Lifestyle And Hints At Phylogeny, David Mcmillan, Kyle Hohu, Janice Edgerly-Rooks

Biology

Silk spinning defines the morphologically constrained embiopterans. All individuals spin for protection, including immatures, adult males and the wingless females. Enlarged front tarsi are packed with silk glands and clothed with ejectors. They spin by stepping with their front feet and releasing silk against substrates and onto preexisting silk, often cloth-like. Spinning is stereotypical and appears to differ between species in frequency and probability of transition between two spin-step positions. This spinning choreography was assessed using thousands of spin-steps scored in the laboratory for 22 species to test: (1) the body size hypothesis predicting that spinning would be more complex …


The Spinning Apparatus Of Webspinners – Functional-Morphology, Morphometrics And Spinning Behaviour, Sebastian Büsse, Thomas Hörnschemeyer, Kyle Hohu, David Mcmillan, Janice Edgerly-Rooks May 2015

The Spinning Apparatus Of Webspinners – Functional-Morphology, Morphometrics And Spinning Behaviour, Sebastian Büsse, Thomas Hörnschemeyer, Kyle Hohu, David Mcmillan, Janice Edgerly-Rooks

Biology

Webspinners (Insecta: Embioptera) have a distinctly unique behaviour with related morphological characteristics. Producing silk with the basitarsomeres of their forelegs plays a crucial role in the lives of these insects – providing shelter and protection. The correlation between body size, morphology and morphometrics of the spinning apparatus and the spinning behaviour of Embioptera was investigated for seven species using state-of-the-art methodology for behavioural as well as for morphological approaches. Independent contrast analysis revealed correlations between morphometric characters and body size. Larger webspinners in this study have glands with greater reservoir volume, but in proportionally smaller tarsi relative to body size …


Structural Characterization Of Nanofiber Silk Produced By Embiopterans (Webspinners), J. Bennett Addison, Thomas M. Osborn Popp, Warner S. Weber, Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Gregory P. Holland, Jeffery L. Yarger Sep 2014

Structural Characterization Of Nanofiber Silk Produced By Embiopterans (Webspinners), J. Bennett Addison, Thomas M. Osborn Popp, Warner S. Weber, Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Gregory P. Holland, Jeffery L. Yarger

Biology

Embiopterans produce silken galleries and sheets using exceptionally fine silk fibers in which they live and breed. In this study, we use electron microscopy (EM), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) techniques to elucidate the molecular level protein structure of webspinner (embiid) silks. Silks from two species Antipaluria urichi and Aposthonia ceylonica are studied in this work. Electron microscopy images show that the fibers are about 90–100 nm in diameter, making webspinner silks among the finest of all known animal silks. Structural studies reveal that the silk protein core is dominated …


Choreography Of Silk Spinning Behavior In Webspinners (Embioptera): Phylogenetic Signal Or A Microhabitat Dance?, Janice Edgerly-Rooks Oct 2013

Choreography Of Silk Spinning Behavior In Webspinners (Embioptera): Phylogenetic Signal Or A Microhabitat Dance?, Janice Edgerly-Rooks

Biology

Silk spinning defines the morphologically constrained embiopterans. All individuals spin for protection, including immatures, adult males and the wingless females. Enlarged front tarsi are packed with silk glands and clothed with ejectors. They spin by stepping with their front feet and releasing silk against substrates and onto pre-existing silk, often cloth-like. Spinning is stereotypical and appears to differ between species in frequency and probability of transition between two spin-step positions. This spinning choreography was assessed using thousands of spin-steps scored in the laboratory for 22 species to test (1) the body size hypothesis predicting that spinning would be more complex …


Maternal Territoriality Achieved Through Shaking And Lunging: An Investigation Of Patterns In Associated Behaviors And Substratevibrations In A Colonial Embiopteran, Antipaluria Urichi, Khaaliq A. Dejan, John M. Fresquez, Annika M. Meyer, Janice Edgerly-Rooks Sep 2013

Maternal Territoriality Achieved Through Shaking And Lunging: An Investigation Of Patterns In Associated Behaviors And Substratevibrations In A Colonial Embiopteran, Antipaluria Urichi, Khaaliq A. Dejan, John M. Fresquez, Annika M. Meyer, Janice Edgerly-Rooks

Biology

Substrate vibration communication is displayed by a variety of insects that rely on silk for shelter. Such signaling is often associated with territoriality and social interactions. The goal in this study was to explore the use of substrate vibration by subsocial insects of the little-studied order Embi-optera (also known as Embiidina). Antipaluria urichi (Saussure) (Embioptera: Clothodidae) from Trinidad and Tobago, a large embiopteran, exhibits maternal care and facultatively colonial behavior. Previous observations suggested that they were aggressive while guarding eggs but gregarious when not. Egg-guarders in particular have been observed shaking and lunging their bodies, but to date these putative …


The Phylogeny And Classification Of Embioptera (Insecta), Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Kelly Miller, Cheryl Hayashi, Michael Whiting, Gavin Svenson Jul 2012

The Phylogeny And Classification Of Embioptera (Insecta), Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Kelly Miller, Cheryl Hayashi, Michael Whiting, Gavin Svenson

Biology

A phylogenetic analysis of the order Embioptera is presented with a revised classification based on results of the analysis. Eighty-two species of Embioptera are included from all families except Paedembiidae Ross and Embonychidae Navás. Monophyly of each of the eight remaining currently recognized families is tested except Andesembiidae Ross, for which only a single species was included. Nine outgroup taxa are included from Blattaria, Grylloblattaria, Mantodea, Mantophasmatodea, Orthoptera, Phasmida and Plecoptera. Ninety-six morphological characters were analysed along with DNA sequence data from the five genes 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, cytochrome c oxidase I and histone III. Data were …


On New Characters Of The Eggs Of Embioptera With The Description Of A New Species Of Saussurembia (Anisembiidae), Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Claudia Szumik, Chanel Mccreedy Apr 2007

On New Characters Of The Eggs Of Embioptera With The Description Of A New Species Of Saussurembia (Anisembiidae), Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Claudia Szumik, Chanel Mccreedy

Biology

Nine egg characters for eleven species of Embioptera are described for the first time. Egg variability indicates its potential use in taxonomy. Here, we analyse the correlation of this variability with the ordinal classification. In addition, a new species of Saussurembia (Anisembiidae) from Trinidad is described, including classical traits in the systematics of Embioptera (adult male and female), as well as general features of the egg and maternal behaviour.


Relating The Cost Of Spinning Silk To The Tendency To Share It For Three Embiids With Different Lifestyles (Order Embiidina: Clothodidae, Notoligotomidae, And Australembiidae), Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Shailesh Shenoy, Vanessa Werner Apr 2006

Relating The Cost Of Spinning Silk To The Tendency To Share It For Three Embiids With Different Lifestyles (Order Embiidina: Clothodidae, Notoligotomidae, And Australembiidae), Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Shailesh Shenoy, Vanessa Werner

Biology

Although adult female embiids (Order Embiidina) superficially lack morphological diversity, their variety of habitats may impose distinct selective pressures on behavior, such as their use of silk and their tendency to aggregate. For example, where silk serves as a primary defense from environmental threats, coloniality might be adaptive. The cost of production or spinning might also prompt them to share silk. These ideas were tested in laboratory trials involving three species of embiids with different lifestyles: an arboreal species (Antipaluria urichi (Saussure) from a neotropical rain forest, a species (Notoligotoma hardyi (Frederichs) that dwells on surfaces of granite outcrops in …


Lichens, Sun, And Fire: A Search For An Embiid-Environment Connection In Australia (Order Embiidina: Australembiidae And Notoligotomidae), Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Edward Rooks Aug 2004

Lichens, Sun, And Fire: A Search For An Embiid-Environment Connection In Australia (Order Embiidina: Australembiidae And Notoligotomidae), Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Edward Rooks

Biology

This investigation is the first to quantify the degree of habitat specialization for any species within the little-known order Embiidina. The lichen and plant communities found in the habitats of two sympatric species, one living on lichens encrusted on granite and another feeding in leaf litter, were characterized using a process of ordination and cluster analysis. Differences among 40 samples and their relationships to environmental factors were probed statistically using Spearman’s coefficient of rank correlations generated by comparing rank similarity matrices of the census sites. The lichen eater, Notoligotoma hardyi (Friederichs), was more abundant in areas with strong southern exposures …