List of animals that produce silk
Silk is produced by a variety of animals, for different purposes, with different types being produced.
Insects
- Silkworms produce silk when undergoing larvae to adult metamorphosis.
- Raspy crickets produce silk to form nest.
- Honeybee and bumblebee larvae produce silk to strengthen the wax cells they pupate in.[1]
- Bulldog ants spin cocoons to protect themselves during pupation.[1]
- Weaver ants use silk to connect leaves together to make communal nests.[1]
- Hornets
- Silverfish
- Mayflies
- Thrips
- Leafhoppers produce silk nest under the leaves of the trees they live in, to protect them against predators.[2]
- Beetles
- Lacewings
- Fleas
- Flies
- Midges
Other animals
- Pinna nobilis creates silk to bond itself to rocks. It is used to make sea silk.
- Various types of spiders make spider silk to weave their webs from.
- Carp produce fibroin units, a component of silk, to attach their eggs to rocks.[3]
- Goats have been genetically modified to produce milk containing extractable silk proteins.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Bees Are The New Silkworms". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
- ↑ "Silk production by the Australian endemic leafhopper Kahaono montana Evans (Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae: Dikraneurini) provides protection from predators - Gurr - 2011 - Australian Journal of Entomology - Wiley Online Library". Onlinelibrary.wiley.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
- ↑ "Silk production and use in arthropods". Map of Life. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
- ↑ Elices, M.; Guinea, G. V.; Plaza, G. R.; Karatzas, C.; Riekel, C.; Agulló-Rueda, F.; Daza, R.; Pérez-Rigueiro, J.; Guinea; Plaza; Karatzas; Riekel; Agulló-Rueda; Daza; Pérez-Rigueiro (2011). "Bioinspired Fibers Follow the Track of Natural Spider Silk". Macromolecules 44 (5): 1166–1176. Bibcode:2011MaMol..44.1166E. doi:10.1021/ma102291m.