Webspinner

Habitat:

Size: 12 mm. Attracted to artificial lighting.

Notes:

The group probably first appeared during the Jurassic and is well represented in Cretaceous amber. The common name webspinner comes from the insects' unique ability to spin silk from structures on their front legs. They use the silk to make a web-like pouch or gallery in which they live. Most, if not all embiopteran species, like many other species of insect, are gregarious, specifically displaying subsociality. This particular kind of social behaviour involves the female guarding her eggs and then caring for her young (right) for several days after hatching. In some species this parental care even involves the female feeding the nymphs with portions of chewed-up leaf litter and other food sources.