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1. This is a velvet mite. Everything about this specimen
is great. The amber is a very clear yellow, and there is even
an ant thrown in to boot! The mite is in the order Acarina, family
Trombidiklae. The surface of the mite is covered
with very fine hairs. An easy way to identify this animal
are the heavy antennae which are distinctive. Newly hatched young
have only 3 pairs of legs and acquire the 4th
pair after the first molt. This is the largest velvet mite
that I have ever seen, it must be about 2 mm in size (that is
BIG!) This piece does have its
own web page.
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 2. Here is
a twisted wing, Strepsiptera, in Baltic amber. They are rare in both Baltic and Dominican amber. The number of specimens from Baltic amber can be counted on one's hands and toes! They are rare and found mostly in museums (if at all). This particular specimen is in perfect shape. The Twisted Wing almost looks like he posed for us when he died. It is a remarkable piece of amber. You can see all the important characteristics of the animal There is a jumping spider off to the side, Araneida, Salticidae. Reminds me of the spider and the fly. This piece is circular and is reminiscent of a thick coin. This has it's own web page.
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3. One
of the most
impressive planthoppers we have
ever seen. The
amber is large, just over
2 inches in length and very clear. The
planthopper is a bit over .25 inches and it has it's
wings spread. Actually
there are a number of
other planthoppers in this piece, but they pall in comparison.
This animals in the
order Homoptera, Superfamily
Fulgoroidea, Family Achilidae That is as far as I can go
with
any certainty. This is just one of those pieces that is
just so impressive when you hold it in your hand and look at
the animals. If you know your planthoppers, then this will
knock you for a loop.
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4. Everyone once in a while you look at a piece under the microscope that takes your breath away. This is it. If you have ever seen pictures of the honey pot ants - the ones with the bloated abdomens, that will catch your eye. We have one. I have never seen one before (amber or life...) I saw this under the microscope, but when I did, it was obvious. This is the type that you can write a paper from. It was found a few years back at the La Toca mines - impressive. It does have a nice bristletail (Archaeognatha) - which is rare by itself. Also some female ants, Hymenoptera, what looks like a root (probably not though) and even a mite, Acarina, family Bdellidae. All in all one of the rarer pieces I have ever seen.
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5. Large
Lizard For this one, you must go to the web page. It is a large
lizard which is VERY expensive. Before you go to the web page,
you should know that the price of this beauty is $70,000! On top
of that, we have a completely separate page for the description
of this reptile. Go
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6. You might feel that this is impossible, but here it is..........a
very large
millipede, Class Diplopoda. This is the finest example I have
ever seen in amber, and probably ever will. The millipede
is so large, I estimate its size to be about 1
inch in length! Here is a close
up of its legs. The piece is filled with other stuff also. There
appears to be a decayed branch next to the animal. There is a nice
fungus gnat, many gnats and a few flies, there is even a rare
predaceous mite (I do not think this is a tick) - Acarina, suborder
Cryptostigmata, Family
Bdellidae. This mite, in and unto itself is rare and expensive!
(I am not an expert in mites and ticks so I insert a disclaimer
here about the family - it
may not be Bdellidae) You just do not find millipedes like this,
just unbelievable!
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7. Lace bugs are one of the aesthetic peculiarities among Baltic amber inclusions. They are flattened bugs characterized by areolate reticulations of the pronotum and hemelytra. A variety of attractive species is reflected by this dense network of longitudinal veins and cross veins. This particular Tingidae is a member of the true bugs: Heteroptera and is of the genus species, Sinalda baltica, Drake 1950.
This has it's own page - you need to see this one.
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8. This
is one chunk of amber. It weighs about 00 grams and is about
2.75 x 3 x .75 inch in size. It is a very clear piece of amber
with a large object that looks like a root (I do not think it
is a root.) There are some nice fossils in it, a lovely fly,
Diptera, Brachycera, what might be a crane fly and a small beetle
or two. It even has part of a spiders web in it. Really nice
piece, a show stopper if I have ever seen one.
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9. Some mayflies, Ephemeroptera, have 2 or 3 long hair-like tails and strong forewings. Hind wings are small and rounded or very reduced. Mayfly adults enjoy a life span of no more than two days. On transition from nymph to adult stage, they fly from the surface of the water for mating, but do not feed. They complete the mating process and die after one or two days. Mayfly eggs are laid in water, and are hatched within one or two weeks. Fossils of mayflies are very rarely found in amber. This specimen with 3 cerei is very rare. Mayflies have the shortest life span of any animal. They may spend two to three years as nymphs at the bottom of lakes and streams, and then live for as little as one hour as winged adults.
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10. Pseudoscorpion,
an ant and a leaf. Pseudoscorpions are in the order Pseudoscorpionida
that have fang-like chelicerae and short pedipalps. In scorpions,
the pedipalps have been modified into pincers. Typically pseudo
scorpions are very small. This pseudoscorpion
is full with both pinchers raised as in battle. Included in
the specimen is also a curled leaf and a worker
ant, Hymenoptera. This is a good piece at a great price.
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11. Sometimes you run into something that looks like it should. This cockroach looks just like 'he' was checking the air before he crouched down to run away. Just a sharp looking roach, Blatteridae. Not only that but there is an immature cricket - in real good shape. This is a large piece, clear and weighs about 21.5 grams. A very nice specimen of anyone's collection. There is an immature planthopper also.
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12.
Stoneflies are rare in amber. The larvae form of a stonefly are even harder to find. Here is the larval form of a stonefly, Plecoptera.
A lovely piece of Baltic amber, this ne is polished on only one side and show the stonefly very well. Even so, this is not a large animal. This one has its own page.
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 13.
This
is a
planthopper nymph - a perfect one in
perfect amber, Homoptera,
Fulgoroidea. Besides the perfect nature of this piece, look
closely at the posterior end. This nymph has a brush tail. It
is thought that these
waxy filaments serve as an escape device - similar to how
tarantulas rub the hairs off their backs to allow the
fine hairs to get into the skin or eyes of a predator. You
do not see these
filaments on planthopper's very often.
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14. If you like plants, you'll love this piece. There are 2 very nice leaves from an Hymenea tree - the ones that made the resin that turned into amber. The piece is good sized, about 1.5 x 15. x .25 inches. This is a piece that someone will pick up and say "wow". Yes, there are a number of other insects in this amber, even a small bryophyte - but the 2 leaves, wow.
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15. I just love it when a piece of amber tells a story. This one tells the story of a very hungry animal. The animal that the pseudoscorpion has is the larvae of coleopteran (Scirtidae). This is a very unusual situation to find unfolding inside Baltic amber. Pseudoscorpions are not very common in amber, much less when they are actually doing something. This has it's own web page.
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16.
Seldom
will anyone ever see a lizard in amber. They are so rare that
a miner or collector would have to be very lucky to see a real
lizard in amber. This is a real lizard. This is a lizard that
died 25 million years ago. You can see skin, part of the vertebrae,
the hip assembly and the bones of the legs including the phalanxes.
This is a small lizard, probably a baby not to far out of its
shell. You
can even count the toes on the foot! In some places
the skin is gone and there is just an impression in
the resin (amber). But in some places the skin looks
so fresh and strong that you wonder if this guy will
start moving.
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17. Sometimes planthoppers can have very strange heads. Here is one that is called an "alligator-head" or "dragon" insect. This is because their snout resembles the head of an alligator. Naturalists have noted that modern types of such planthoppers often sit with their snouts up in the air, similar to the stance of a true reptile. This is the first time we have come across this type of planthopper (Homoptera:Fulgoroidea). They are so rare that you normally see the same picture over and over - well here is a new one, and just as rare. This is a perfect specimen. You will never see another one of these for sale, anywhere.
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18. When you find the impossible piece, you should always look further. First, and what led me to this piece are a pair of mating (in copuli) midges. These midges have been 'coupled' for 24 million years. Think about that. It is rather rare to find such a pair - much less a perfect pair. This is a wonderful cab, clear with great color. Upon further inspection, this has one other animal - a female webspinner, Embioptera....Unbelievable. Webspinners themselves are rare in amber. Either specimen is rare, together they form the impossible piece. The primary feature of webspinners is their snake-like heads, with the forelegs which are short and stout. Webspinners have glands on their front legs that emit silk to line their homes. Most webspinners found in amber are male, females are even rarer (of course this is a female.) I cannot impress to you how nice a piece this is. I can see this as a beautiful pendant, what a story to tell.
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 19.
Mosquito's in amber are rather unusual. Since the smell of resin does not attract the insect, there is little to entice the animal to it. So to find one in amber is really a special day. This is a rather large female mosquito. Who knows where her last meal was from - Jurassic Park revisited? This is a guaranteed female mosquito in a nice sized cab of Dominican amber.
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 20.
We have saved the best for "almost" last. Here is
a queen ant - not only that but she is mating with a drone.
This isn't even seen nowadays, much less caught in the act 24
million years ago in amber and discovered! This
has its own page for the story behind this one.
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 21.
This
is one of the animals that you will sometimes find in books.
Often it is the same picture that is used from book to book
or article to article. They are so rare in Dominican amber that
you will just not see that many pictures of them. The whip scorpion
is one of the rarest of all finds. Tail-less whip scorpions
or amblypigids
are very efficient predators. They remain hidden
under leaves, bark and other debris for most of the day.
They come out at night to feed. Their chelicerae
are modified into strong, spine-armored
grasping organs that the hapless arthropods would find nearly
inescapable. Their front pair of legs, in contrast, are long
and slender, obviously modified for sensory
functions. Lacking any type
of tail appendage, these formidable creatures are not frequently
encountered. The females carry their eggs in a sac attached
to the undersurface of the abdomen by a few silken threads.
Amblypygi..........Genus
Phrynus species resinae...............
Schawaller 1979
The size
is about 1 inch x .5 inches x .5 inches
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 22.
A large
chunk of amber
with a few dozen platypodid
beetles (ambrosia beetles), Coleoptera,
Platypodidae. Along with the beetles there area few ants, Hymenoptera,
Formicidae and a couple of gnats - even some other animals. This
is about 4 x 1.25 x 3 inches and 151 grams in weight. So you can
see that this would serve as a nice weight on one's desk.
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female mosquitois located near one side. This piece is large, being 15.4 grams in weight. Rather more like a show piece since it is very clear and just plain impressive. You do not see mosquito's very often in amber. We are lucky enough to have two for sale (a rare day.......). There are 2 nice fungus gnats, Diptera, Mycetophilidae - on one you can actually see the wing pattern. Very unusual condition.
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 24.
You will probably never see a dusty
wing fly for sale again, Neuroptera.
Here is one. The wings are covered with a fine whitish powder.
The bases (coxae) of each pair
of legs is fused beneath the abdomen. These are fragile and
seldom
found animals. While this does have a few other
animals inside, it is really the dusty wing that makes
this so special.
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25.
At first I thought these were ants, but close inspection indicates
that they are wasps. To my best knowledge, there is only one other
pair of mating wasps found in Dominican amber. This is the second.
When you look closely you will see that one of the pair is wingless.
In one family
of wasps (Bethylidae) the female is wingless. This is so good,
it has a web page all to itself.
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 26. It seems like all the great stuff is at the bottom of this page!
This is a very large adult
planthopper Order Homoptera, Superfamily, Fulgoroidea. The wing
structure is great, you can see the individual
hairs! The details on this animal are particularly
good. While the planthopper
is large, so is the hunk of amber. The planthopper is about
.25 inches x .25 inches (one wing is spread). The entire piece of
amber is almost 2 inches x 1.5 x .5 inches. Of course there are
the miscellaneous flies and gnats scattered around. There is a special
plant in this one. It appears that this is a germinating
Bryophyte! Very unusual to find this. The entire specimen is
a plus for any serious amber collector. >
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 27.
Parts are parts. Here ar various parts from a lizard in Colombian
copal. Discovered last year this lizard left much of it's remains
in the sticky resin a long time ago. My guess from looking at
the feet, this was a small gecko
lizard. One
side has a very
well preserved tail.
the other side various parts of the lizard such
as skin, a few parts of the feet, part
of the skull of the animal
and more. It is a rather cool piece at a great price. There also
spiders,
caddis
flies ( a
dozen to 2 dozen), a beetle
and a lot of sharp looking debris including
part of a leaf and
petiole. This is
an exceptionally fine
specimen. You will
have a great
time studying it - it is just plain good fun.
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28. I am not sure how to describe this one to you. There are possibly 300 to 400 larvae - beetle or ant, scattered throughout the piece of Dominican amber. Very unusual and this would make a nice pendant with a great story. You will enjoy looking at the pictures.
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29.  We have to put this on the first page. This is the finest lacewing we have ever seen. Impressive, magnificent, out of this world are some of the descriptors. In fact there are 2 lacewings, one of which is beyond museum quality. This is one heck of a piece. You will not find wings like this on any other lacewing (Order Neuroptera.) You will have a fun time looking at the images and then the scanned image.
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30. If you like ticks and mites, then this tick is for you. It is
really one of the best mites I have ever seen in amber. Large, easy to see
and in good shape. In the family Caeculidae and in the genus Caeculus!
These are called the Rake legged mites due to the spines on the
front legs. I rather like these mites as they have good image character.
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31. Centipedes in Dominican amber are very rare. This is a perfect centipede, Class Chilopdoa order Geophilomorpha.  It is almost as if the centipede was laid down to look it's be. Not only do you not find centipedes, but to find a perfect one is so rare that it just does not happen. trees
and leaves. This centipede is well over an inch long.
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32.
This is a rather rare one. It comes from a parasitic larval form that only lives in spiders. Not only rare - but this is a perfect piece. And - it may be a new species (although I will not guarantee that since Acroceridae are not my specialty.) All known species are internal parasites of spiders. Adults of living forms can be found in vegetated or forested areas with females usually in search of a spider host or feeding on the nectar of flowers. The life span of adults is very short (usually only 1 week). Larvae include a planidial first instar that actively searches out a host immediately after hatching from the egg. Larvae pass through 4 instars before emerging from the host and pupating. If you have not guessed, this is a very rare animal in Dominican amber (also Baltic).
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33.
Here is almost what I would consider an impossible situation. We have 2 whip scorpions (this one and the one above). Both came from the La Toca mines and both are out of this world. This one is a bit smaller - the amber is a little bit smaller and the whip scorpion is a little bit smaller. But oh, is this perfect. There is also a small spider and even an unknown mite. This will take your breath away when you see it. The details are outstanding. There is a lot of general information in the box above, please take a look at that. This is a museum piece.
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