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They are found in Bangladesh. Some of my observations:

  • They are so small that their legs and appendages look transparent.
  • Their colour is brown and they have no wings.
  • My eye sight is not brilliant, but the don't look like spiders. Their head and mouthpart vaguely resemble that of the termite. When I tried to observe them closely, they looked bed-bug-shaped.
  • They are fragile: when I tried to grab them by pinching, they just squashed.
  • They seem like living in a big city made of silk strands. The can easily move in, out and within the structure which slightly bigger, potential predators could not.

Unfortunately my mobile camera is not good enough to capture a clear image of them. Click images for larger version.

the whole structure enter image description here enter image description here rough sketch

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    $\begingroup$ Can you add where you took these photos? Also I can think of a couple of possible candidates but it would be purely speculative unless you can get a photo (or do a sketch?) of one. Any information on colour etc would also be useful. $\endgroup$
    – arboviral
    Sep 12, 2016 at 7:50
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    $\begingroup$ it is from my backyard (Bangladesh). The silk structure is on old bamboo fence bordering a paddy field. Now it's raining so I can't go outside to make a stetch. so I'll try to describe it again. They are so small that it's legs and appedage look transparent. color is brown, has no wing. my eye sight is not brilliant but it didn't look like an spider. it's head and mouthpart vaguely resemble that of the termite, my eyesight is poor though so I can't fully gurantee this. Please name all the candidate comes to your mind so I can compare with the images on the internet. $\endgroup$ Sep 12, 2016 at 9:02
  • $\begingroup$ some sort of mites? $\endgroup$ Sep 13, 2016 at 20:06

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From the comments above (in particular, "it's head and mouthpart vaguely resemble that of the termite") it is possible that what is here is a Webspinner colony (Order Embioptera); if so you either have one of the few species in which the male is wingless, or the colony was without adults of that sex when your question was asked. Webspinners are distantly related to termites, but have little or no economic importance (some species have been accidentally spread by man). The Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embioptera) has some basic information on the group (including photographs of both sexes and of nymphs), and references for further information; identification of species from Bangladesh will be problematic, as Edward S. Ross (the expert on this group from the mid-1940s, and not fully replaced--he has retired) had reportedly collected enough undescribed species to more than double the known diversity.

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    $\begingroup$ I didn't know this family so thanks for keying me into their existence. However...from the OP: "They looked like bed bug shaped" ; "They are so small that it's legs and appendage look transparent. color is brown, has no wing." The images of the embioptera I found do not match that description as they are too large and shaped incorrectly (even the wingless larva). Could you please comment about that in your answer. Thanks. $\endgroup$ May 18, 2017 at 17:50

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