Authors: Lillian Davis, Paul B Frandsen
Mentors: Paul B. Frandsen
Insitution: Brigham Young University
Insects of the order Embioptera (webspinners) typically live in colonies that can cover the ground of entire fields with their silk-constructed galleries, providing them with camouflage from predators and cover from the rain. Uniquely amongst silk-producing insects, webspinners possess silk glands in their forelimbs and, like spiders, retain the ability to produce silk throughout their life history. They typically live together in semi-social colonies, feeding off of decaying plant matter. Previous studies have been limited to morphological descriptions of species, testing various qualities of their silk, and a few molecular studies based on short DNA sequences. Here we present the genome of Apostonia ceylonica, a webspinner species from India, providing the first embiopteran genome assembly, opening the door to a multitude of analyses. At a haploid size of approximately 3.1 gigabases, their genome is significantly larger than previous estimates, containing a significant number of repeating segments. This data provides valuable information for future studies into the genes that control silk production, information for identifying this species through meta-barcoding, and data that could improve phylogenetic trees. By evaluating the effect of repetitive elements on their oversized genomes, we gain insights into the evolutionary history of Apostonia ceylonica.