Strange insect.

[Conchiolin]

Hey what's this? Looks like an elongated ant? Perhaps a case of ant mimicry?

It does look like a web spinner to me. Order Embioptera. If it is i was a bit lucky since these are rarely seen outside yet strangely i saw 2 specimens.

Yes come to think of it those web spinners have short thick legs due to the silk producing glands at the legs.

Ok 99% it's a web spinner.
Very interesting insects. This one probably female since it has no wings.

Would like to know the species name:

[MWP admin]

I would bet a small part of my money on a termite - perhaps the damp wood termite (male)

Reticulitermes lucifugus

[Conchiolin]

hey dude i don't think so. If you strain a bit your eyes (cause the photo sucks a bit) you may notice that the tail ends in a fork shape.
The antennae are longer and the legs are swollen. According to this book about bugs it's really like a web-spinner.

[IL-PINE]

My guess is that its neither a plant nor a mollusc

[MWP admin]

I am back on the Pc after a harsh hot night!

Now I am convinced to be an earwig after seeing the tail part. The Family is Forficulidae

I searched for earwig malta and got a 16c stamp from a collectionist in Japan!

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~CH2M-NITU/hasamie.htm

Well, the common earwig has a more developped scissor-tail, browner, and shorter I would say, thus it is not the one in your photo - unless there are males and females which look very different. However the Genus could be Forficula.

http://www.maltawildplants.com/IRID/Pic ... FT32.shtml

Work a bit on Forficula Malta maybe it comes out something...

[Conchiolin]

Hi, i've spent a lot of time searching on the net. A document says that there are 5 species of Earwigs but i could not find the names or images. It also said that there are species of Embioptera in Malta but they haven't been studied yet. So that means that it's very unlikely to know the species name so we might have to call the big guns for this insecto.

My hypothesis is backed up by the following characteristics:

-The abdomen is segmented in ten parts.

-Although not that obvious, the front legs look a bit swollen

-The mouth-parts are directed forward

-The back finger like projections from the tail have many bristles.
(these act as antennas when the insect is moving backwards)

-The antennae on the head are thread like and long considering it's body size.

I checked those with this site:
http://animals.jrank.org/pages/2396/Web ... STICS.html

Check this generalised image of a spinner:

http://www.sbnature.org/collections/inv ... era1-b.jpg

Here's another pic perhaps it shows more the tail part of the Insect. Note that this is another specimen. The tail is segmented into 2 parts.