Top 17 Most Common Insects in Mosta

The old World swallowtail (Papilio machaon) is commonly just called the "swallowtail," giving it the added title of "old world" to distinguish it and remind us that it comes from the "old world" (Asia, Africa, Europe). The upper side of them is a beautiful combination of pure white with black striping, the underside being a brownish version of the same thing. There is blue and two red dots on its back side.

The emperor dragonfly or blue emperor (Anax imperator) is a large species of hawker dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae, averaging 78 millimetres (3.1 in) in length.

The egyptian locust( Anacridium aegyptium) is usually gray, brown, or olive in color has a mid-sized body with a pair of short and robust antennae on the head. It is generally regarded as a kind of minor pest as it essentially feeds on the leaves of various fruit trees in the orchards but does not cause serious harm to crops.

Crocothemis erythraea can reach a length of 3.5 - 4.5 cm. These dragonflies haves a flattened and rather broad abdomen. The adult male scarlet dragonfly has a bright scarlet red, widened abdomen, with small amber patches at the bases of the hindwings. Also the veins on the leading edges of the wings are red. Females and immatures are yellow-brown and have a conspicuous pale stripe along the top of the thorax.

The lamenting grasshopper (Eyprepocnemis plorans) has a name that sounds like they spend most of their time wondering about the love that never was. Instead, this insect is known to have a number of different forms, known as polymorphs, given its extra chromosomes. It is known for being a nervous species and also particularly good at flying.

The painted lady is a migratory butterfly that spends part of the year in Northern Africa and then migrates to Europe during the warmer months. Although the adults feed on nectar from flowers, the larvae feed on the leaves of nettles and thistles.

The adult geranium bronze butterfly's wingspan ranges from 15–23 mm in males and 18–23 mm in females. The wings are brown/bronze with a white border outlining the wings. The underside is a grey-brown with darker bands interlaced with white, creating an intricate pattern. The hindwings contain an eye spot in order to divert predators from attacking. The male and female are similar in appearance.

Adult Potamon fluviatile may reach a carapace length of 50 millimetres (2.0 in), with females being generally smaller than males. As with other crabs, the body is roughly square, with the reduced abdomen tucked beneath the thorax. The thorax bears five pairs of legs, the first of which is armed with large claws. The life span of P. fluviatile is typically 10–12 years. Moulting does not occur in winter. Mating lasts between 30 min and 21 hours, with spawning usually taking place in August. Females carry the eggs on their pleopods (appendages on the abdomen) until they hatch directly into juvenile crabs, having passed through the larval stages inside the egg. Potamon fluviatile is edible, as indicated by its alternative specific epithet edulis, and was known to the ancient Greeks; it is probably this species which they depicted on medals found at Agrigento, Sicily. More recently, the species was depicted on the 5¢ coin in the last series of Maltese coins before the introduction of the Euro there in 2007.

An unusually large and heavy species of moth, large yellow underwing (Noctua pronuba) is dreaded by gardeners for the larvae's habit of causing fatal damage to the base of virtually any herbaceous plant. Large migrations occur some years, but how those years are determined is not yet known. Its contrasting colors (yellow-orange and brown) are thought to confuse would-be predators.

Eristalinus taeniops can reach a length of 1.09 - 1.4 cm. These hoverflies exhibit a bee-like yellow-black drawing. The thorax has a metallic yellow-brown color and it is densely yellow hairy. Also the scutellum are yellow-brown colored. The abdomen is reddish-yellow, with transversal black bands. The compound eyes have five distinct, vertical, dark stripes. The wings are transparent, usually yellowish-brown at the base, while the halteres are brightly pale yellow colored.