These insects spin silk from their legs to build protective, maze-like tunnel galleries.

Nature · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Webspinners are small, gregarious insects that produce silk from glands located in their front legs. They use this silk to construct elaborate, protective galleries on bark, rocks, or leaf litter. While they are mostly tropical, these masters of silk architecture are found on every continent except for Antarctica.

Webspinners, or Embioptera, are a group of insects known for their unique ability to spin silk from specialized glands in their forelegs. Unlike silkworms that use a single pair of glands, some webspinners possess up to 300 individual silk glands, allowing them to rapidly construct extensive, protective tunnel systems. These galleries act as a vital micro-environment, shielding the insects from predators and maintaining necessary moisture levels while they forage for plant litter, moss, and lichen.

The social structure of these insects is typically subsocial, with colonies often consisting of a mother and her offspring. Females exhibit maternal care, guarding their eggs and sometimes even feeding nymphs with chewed-up food. Because the insects are physically specialized for life within these narrow, silk-lined tunnels, they have evolved to move with remarkable speed both forward and backward. Their cerci, located on the abdomen, are highly sensitive to touch, enabling them to navigate the maze-like galleries when turning around is impossible.

The life cycle of the webspinner is marked by distinct sexual dimorphism. While females are always wingless, males may be winged or wingless depending on the species. Adult males do not feed and typically die shortly after mating, sometimes even being consumed by the female. In some instances, when males are scarce, females can reproduce through parthenogenesis, ensuring the survival of their lineage. These insects are found worldwide in warm climates, though their unobtrusive nature means many species likely remain undiscovered.

The silk produced by webspinners is among the thinnest in the animal kingdom, often measuring between 90 and 100 nanometres in diameter. This material is composed of protein folded into pleated beta-sheets and coated with water-repellent waxy alkanes. Despite their specialized lifestyle, webspinners face significant threats from parasitoid wasps and flies, which target their eggs or nymphs, providing an evolutionary incentive for their gregarious, colony-based existence.

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