The so called webspinners, insects of the order Embioptera (or Embiidina), are represented in Bulgaria by only one species:
Haploembia solieri, Rambur 1842 (Meine & al., 1998), of the family Oligotomidae.
The species is reported from the Kresna Gorge, Mt. Kozhuh and Maslen Nos (Meine & al., 1998).
The webspinners are small to moderate-sized hemimetabolic insects, living in silken tunnels, which they produce themselves using their spinning glands in the enlarged basal tarsomere of the first pair of legs. The location of the glands is unique for this insect group. Both nymphs and adults are capable of silk production. The insects can quickly move forward and backward in their tubular galeries. The webspinners feed on dry plant material (leaf litter, grass, moss, bark, lichen etc.). (Daly & al., 1998)
In most of the species (as in H.solieri) the males have two pairs of long, narrow wings with similar simple venation. The females are always wingless. Males have asymmetrical genitalia. Species determination can be performed almost only on male specimens. The most suitable differentiation characters are found in the wings, genitalia and mouthparts of adult males. (Daly & al., 1998)
There are about 200 species of Embioptera described (mainly from the tropics), a total number of about 2200 is expected to exist. (Daly & al., 1998)
