340 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



and of those males that are wingless in the adult instar, it might be 

 said that these insects develop without metamorphosis. But in the 

 case of the winged males the development resembles that of insects 

 with a complete metamorphosis in one important respect; that is, 

 the development of the wings is internal until the penultimate molt 

 is reached. Melander states that he sectioned the fully grown larva 

 and found the wings as large invaginated pockets completely beneath 

 the hypodermis. In the penultimate instar of the winged females 

 there are well-developed, external wing-pads. This instar may well 

 be termed a pupa. 



The embiids are very active insects both in running and in flight. 

 They are often gregarious. They live in silken nests or galleries under 

 stones or other objects lying on the ground, and burrow into the soil 

 when the surface becomes too dry. Imms found in his studies of 

 Embia major in the Himalayas that maternal care on behalf of the ova 

 and larvae is strongly exhibited by the females, in much the same 

 .manner as is known to occur among the Dermaptera. 



Writers differ as to the source of the sillv of which the nests are 

 made. Melander ('02 a) and others have described glands in the 

 metatarsi of the forelegs, which open through hairs, and have ob- 

 served that in spinning its nest the insect uses its fore feet. But 

 Enderlein maintains that the chief source of the silk is from glands 

 that open through a spinneret on the labium, although the secretion 

 of the metatarsal glands may play a part in the formation of the 

 silken tissues. 



The embiids are widely distributed in the warmer parts of the 

 world. A few species have been found in Florida, Texas, and 

 California. 



