Common Web Spinner vs Teratembiid Web Spinner

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Common Web Spinner Teratembiid Web Spinner
Scientific Name Embia major Teratembia geniculata
Order Embioptera Embioptera
Family Embiidae Teratembiidae
Size 10.0-15.0 mm 6.0-9.0 mm
Habitat Woodlands Heathland
Diet Gall Makers Wood Feeders
Regions Europe, Africa North America
Conservation Not Evaluated Not Evaluated

Common Web Spinner

A dark brown web spinner that constructs silk galleries on tree bark and under stones. Males are winged while females are always wingless.

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Did You Know?

Web spinners produce silk from glands in their enlarged front feet, the only insects to spin silk with their tarsi.

Teratembiid Web Spinner

A small web spinner found in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It has distinctively bent hind femora used for navigating silk tunnels.

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Did You Know?

The bent knees of this web spinner act as anchors allowing it to brace inside its silk tunnels when threatened.