Morphological and Behavioral Adaptations of Silk-Lovers (Plokiophilidae: Embiophila) for Their Lifestyle in the Silk Domiciles of Webspinners (Embioptera)
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Published:2023-03-11
Issue:3
Volume:15
Page:415
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ISSN:1424-2818
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Container-title:Diversity
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Diversity
Author:
Büscher Thies H.1ORCID, Harper J. René2, Sripada Neeraja2ORCID, Gorb Stanislav N.1ORCID, Edgerly Janice S.2, Büsse Sebastian1
Affiliation:
1. Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, Kiel University, 24118 Kiel, Germany 2. Department of Biology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053, USA
Abstract
The diversity of true bugs gave rise to various lifestyles, including gaining advantage from other organisms. Plokiophilidae are cimicomorphan bugs that live in the silk constructions of other arthropods. One group, Embiophila, exclusively settles in the silk colonies of webspinners (Embioptera). We investigated the lifestyle of Embiophila using microscopy to study the micromorphology and material composition of the leg cuticle, choice assays and retention time measurements based on different characteristics of the embiopteran galleries and tilting experiments with different substrates to quantify the attachment performance of the bugs. Embiophila neither explicitly preferred embiopteran presence, nor required silk for locomotion, but the bugs preferred fibrous substrates during the choice experiments. The hairy attachment pad on the tibia showed the best attachment performance on substrates, with an asperity size of 1 µm. Additionally, very rough substrates enabled strong attachment, likely due to the use of claws. Our findings suggest that Embiophila settle in galleries of webspinners to benefit from the shelter against weather and predators and to feed on mites and other intruders. The combination of behavioral and functional morphological experiments enables insights into the life history of these silk-associated bugs, which would be highly challenging in the field due to the minute size and specialized lifestyle of Embiophila.
Funder
the DFG Collaborative Teaching and Technology Grant from Santa Clara University awarded to J.S.E. and colleagues in the Departments of Biology and Neuroscience
Subject
Nature and Landscape Conservation,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous),Ecological Modeling,Ecology
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