Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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 …