(Describer) Titles: The Bug Chicks, and Solpugid Productions, in association with Texas A and M University. Insects and Human Society.

♪

Ooh! Ooh, Jessica, come look what I made!

(Describer) Sheets hang on low clotheslines.

Oh! What i-- Is that a fort? Well, kind of. It's for the webspinner episode, because webspinners build these silken tunnels, and I think we're gonna film the whole episode inside it. I love forts!

(Describer) Jessica crawls under them. Different insects are shown: including a small green one with wings, hundreds of tiny ones swarming a worm, one with transparent wings climbing a tree, a thin green one looking around, two with translucent white wings, and one crawling on a green leaf before flying off. Titles: The Insect Orders.

[Morgantj plays "Cafe Connection"]

♪

(Describer) Order Embiidina : Webspinners. Taxonomy. Inside a tunnel of sheets...

Webspinners are in the order Embiidina. Sometimes you'll see the order called Embioptera. "Embio" means lively. This name might refer to the fact that these insects are amazingly fast crawlers, both forward and backward. Or it could be a reference to the special ability that males have to deflate and inflate their wings. They're commonly called webspinners because they spin silken tubes that they live in.

(Describer) Title: Morphology.

Webspinners are small, flat insects that all basically look alike. They're usually brown, and the species are difficult to distinguish from one another. Male webspinners have two pairs of wings, and the females are wingless. Now, these insects have the special ability to create silk. We know what you're thinking-- lots of insects make silk-- but these are the only ones that make it with their legs. On their forelegs they have an enlarged tarsi, and this holds silk glands. They kind of look like Popeye's forearms. They bulge a bit. Now, if you're lucky enough to see these insects in action, you'll notice that they crawl really fast backwards. They've got these enlarged hind legs that help them achieve this. Jessica will show us how quickly they crawl backwards. I will? Yes. It's for science.

(Describer) She crawls back through a tunnel. Title: Biodiversity and Distribution.

There are only about 200 species of Embiidina worldwide. These insects are mostly tropical, but there are about ten species that live here in the U.S. We know that webspinners live in Texas and other southern states, and we've even found them on campus.

(Describer) Title: Biology and Life History.

The embiids exhibit really neat behaviors that are uncommon in the insect world. For one thing, most species are gregarious. This means they live together in sort of loose groups usually consisting of an adult female and her offspring. Some species even physically feed their nymphs. The silken tubes that these insects create are called forts. They're called galleries. Okay, they're called galleries, but they're like forts in that they provide shelter and protection for these insects. There's usually one central chamber and then a bunch of tubes and tunnels that radiate out from it. Webspinners are detritivores and often forage in the areas where they've created their galleries. They do everything inside these silken tubes-- they feed, they reproduce, they hang out. Only rarely do they ever leave the safety of their tunnels. When they're confronted by predators, webspinners will often play dead. This is a defense mechanism called thanatosis.

(Describer) Title: Metamorphosis.

Webspinners undergo simple gradual metamorphosis. The eggs hatch into nymphs which undergo a series of molts until they reach sexual maturity.

(Describer) Title: Collection. By a tree...

Embiids are really reclusive and hard to find unless you know where to look for them. We suggest walking around and taking a close look at trees and their bark. Now, you're gonna feel a little odd doing this, but you should embrace it. You are part of a legion of students that has found their inner bugdork. Go forth! Ento it up! Wow! Come on. They've seen 12 of these videos so far. You know some of them are walking around on campus, staring at the sidewalk, looking for bugs. Some of them are probably at that stage where they talk about bugs at parties.

[sighs] Ah, I love that stage.

I know.

(Describer) Title: Human Impact.

These insects have no impact on humans. They don't bite. They keep to themselves. They just basically give us something cool to study.

(Describer) Title: Mythology and Culture. Jessica's on a laptop.

Hey. Hey, Kris. I've been googling for hours. I can't find anything on mythology and culture for these animals. I know. It's a barren wasteland. But I was kind of thinking that maybe the cool blood-pumping action of the male's wings could have inspired something. Yeah? Yeah. Remember those sneakers from the late '80s, early '90s that had the air pumps on them? Air Jordans. Yeah, the one where you pump the tongue. Yes! So, what if webspinners are the original Air Jordans? Oh! Blood Jordans. Oh! Blood Jordans. I bet nobody has made this connection, dude. We should call Nike. Seriou--

[assistant] Uh, you guys are thinking

of the Reebok Pump. Air Jordans didn't inflate. They just had air in them. The Reebok Pump. Oh, right. Oh, okay. Okay. Well, so, like, um, Reebok Blood. Uh, Blood Pump. It doesn't have the same ring to it. We got nothin'. You want to go play in the fort? Okay.

♪

(Describer) Titles: Written and Produced by Kristie Reddick, Jessica Honaker All photos, video and illustrations copyright Solpugid Productions and The Bug Chicks unless otherwise attributed. Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.