Dominican Amber

Item 1

Dragonflies and damselflies are undoubtedly among the rarest insects in amber and have only been reported to date from Baltic and Dominican amber.

If the picture on the left catches your attention then you know that these are as rare as hens teeth........this is what I think is a dragonfly, Odonta, Anisoptera.  The other chance is that it would be a damselfly, Zygoptera - I just do not know for sure,  so I will stay with a dragonfly.  The number of dragonflies can be counted on one hand.  This is also a fairly complete animal.  The body, while not perfect and the wings are intact.

This has got to excite anyone that knows their insects.  This is Chiapas amber that is about 2 x .75 x .5 inches and weighs 7 grams.

There are also 2 poorly preserved termites - one which just shows the outline of the animal.  Believe it or not, this one is  priced to sell.

Here is a page with an entire dragonfly collection!

Scanned Image

$2,850

Item 2

I get shivers when I see something like this. This is a piece of Mexican, Chiapas amber that has real hair. The piece is big and has a number of bugs, mostly bees (see the honey comb above). The hair is particularly cool. It appears that bits of tissue were ripped off when the became trapped in the resin. I like to think that maybe DNA from the mammal is still there. Never has anyone around here seen this type of 'clumped' hair. really sharp and really exciting to look at and imagine.

Scanned Image!

$1,350

Item 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.

Scanned Image!

$1,239

Item 4

Here is one that you will fall in love with....2 large mating midges, Diptera, Chironomidae.  These are often mistaken for mosquitos, but midges do not bite.  Just think these have been like this for 20 million years..........

Scanned Image

$348

Item 5

I am not an Isopod specialist, but I do know when the specimen is special.  This one is.  Isopods (or Woodlice):  Order Isopoda, have seven pairs of legs, corresponding to the last seven thoracic segments.  Isopods, together with shrimps, crabs, lobsters and water fleas, are crustaceans.  They dwell in damp environments such as river banks or beaches, or inhibit tree stumps and humus.  They feed mainly on fungi or scavenge.  I am not good enough to say that this is a new species, but I would not discount it.  It is a good piece.

Scanned Image

$350

Item 6

Millipede:  Class Diplopoda

For the life of me, I do not know the classification of millipede to go to the family level.  This one is solid and complete - and very large. It is almost 3/4 of an inch in size.  One of the largest and most complete I have ever seen.  A capstone to any collection or an expensive pendant for any enthusiast.  This is a magnificent specimen.

Millipedes have two pair of legs for every segment (centipedes have one pair).   At birth, millipedes have a few pair of legs, the number increasing with each molt.  Both sides of the millipede's body have gland openings that can secrete a strongly odorous liquid for discouraging potential enemies.  Female millipedes care for their eggs and young by cleaning and protecting them.

This Dominican amber specimen has many other animals (smaller of course).  There is a fungus gnat, Mycetophilidae, gall gnats, Cecidomyiidae, wasps, Hymenoptera and even others.

Scanned image

$399

Item 7

An almost perfect dragon fly.  Wings are good and the body is rather impressive.  There is a lot of other animals in this Chiapas amber, ants, mostly female worker ants, Hymenoptera, Formicidae along with a pseudoscorpion, flies and even some unknownsNice piece, rare specimenEven parts of leaves. Here is the front side of the piece and the backside.

Here is a page with an entire dragonfly collection!

Scanned Image!

$1,799

Item 8

 

This  termite bug, Termitaradus protera sp. n. (Termitaphididae: Hemiptera) from Mexican amber, represents the second known fossil of this family.  From its presumed host, a worker of the basal termite, Toastmaster electrodominicus. The hypothesis that the family Termitaphididae is ancient and inhabited Pangaea is disputed in favor of a much more recent, Tertiary origin. It is suggested, in fact, that termitaphidids are highly modified Aradidae, possibly derived from Mezirinae.

All the described species of Termitaphididae have been found only in nests of termites. Fossil Termitaphididae in  Dominican amber are very rare and in Dominican amber, only three preserved have been found.

This is shaped more like a tusk, about 1.75 inches long and a bit more than 1/4 inch wide.  It is very clear and very impressive. On the ventral side, posterior are what look like legs and then there is something else (I don't have a clue what they are.)


Scanned Image!

$1,890

Item 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. You may find this comic good, especially since it deals with mayflies (you will be leaving this site, but you can use your 'back' button.)


Scanned Image!

$2,195

Item 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.

Scanned Image!

$289

Item 11

Not a particularly large piece (but not too small also). This has a clarity that is unsurpassed. It contains a true bug, Hemiptera, Encicoephalidae. This is what is called a gnat bug. The eyes encircle the head. The raptorial hook-like front legs indicate that this insect is predaceous. This is such a perfect piece that you can begin to see the pattern on it's legs. You do not see that very often on any insect in amber. The pictures of this bug are really wonderful. There is also a nice looking fly, Diptera, Brachycera.

Scanned Image!

$635

Item 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 is polished on only one side and shows the stonefly very well. Even so, this is not a large animal. This one has its own page.

Scanned Image!

$780

Item 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.

Scanned Image!

$280

Item 14

14a.jpg

Strepsiptera: this is a strange group of insects. Most species are described solely from the males because most of the females are devoid of eyes, antennae, legs and external genitalia and they live their life in the host! They prey upon solitary bees, solitary wasps, and true bugs mostly. The female is mostly flightless and are degenerate in that she has no legs and a body that looks rather like a maggot. The males have only one pair of functional wings, and these are the hind wings, the forewings are greatly reduced to look and function like the halteres of flies. Even for today, they are not that common and few people other than entomologists have or are likely to see them. This has it's own web page.
Scanned Image!

$1,100

Item 15

 

I have gone through the house on ID'ing this specimen.  For the longest time I thought it might be a Nematode, and earthworm, anything!  I now feel that this is one of the most unusual coprolites I have ever seen.  There are three parts to this.  The large part still looks like a worm, but I cannot discern any anatomical features.  Earthworms are segmented - this is not.  Nematodes have a specific anterior and posterior - this does not. The final guess is a coprolite.  I do not have the foggiest idea what animal this is from.  Your guess is better than mine.

This is a unique and special piece.


Scanned Image!

SOLD

Item 16

Praying mantises, Orthoptera are soo rare in Dominican amber that it is just so exciting to see one.  This one is perfect!  The piece of amber is beautifully clear and the mantis looks like "he" is jumping out at you.  The perfect piece for a good collection.  Mantids (or mantis) are characterized by a lengthened thorax (chest) and a head that can turn 180 degrees.  They typically carry their barbed front legs in an attack position.  It looks like a praying position, giving them the nickname "praying mantis".  They could very well be called 'preying mantis" because they are fierce and fearless, attacking prey from insects to small animals like lizards.

Scanned Image

 

$1,450

Item 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.

Scanned Image!

$1,425

Item 18

A large piece of amber with a full sized leaf.  The amber is about 2 inches x 1.5 inches x .75 inches with the leaf being about 1.25 inches long.  The leaf is near one side and is polished to show the leaf.  It is very unusual to see an entire leaf and to see it so clearly.

The superlatives to describe this massive piece of amber just keep coming. This large, yellow specimen weighs a substantial 28 grams and has a smooth, undulating surface with nice clarity given what rests inside the hardened suspension. Perfectly preserved, a relatively enormous leaf.  From the Dominican Republic, this has size going for it, to be sure, and botanical inclusions are actually rarer than insect inclusions, especially complete and larger ones like this darkly-colored bladed leaf. Internal structural "impurities" surround the "fossil within a fossil" that is wonderfully positioned centrally inside the piece. This offering is both unusually hefty and thick. This is major, even for amber with inclusions, sure to enhance any collection.

Scanned Image!

Other side

$1,525

Item 19

Here is an entire collection of planthoppers:  Homoptera.  An absolutely beautiful collection of 28 Dominican specimens from the La Cumbre mines.  This has it all - I suspect even some unknown ones.  The scanned image is large and will show and the total sizes.

Scanned Image

  3  4  5    8  9  10 11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28

$2,400

Item 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
.

Scanned Image!

SOLD

Item 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



Scanned Image!

$16,000

Item 22

Family Phasmanitidae: A rare and beautiful specimen of a walking stick.  It is very rare not only because of its size but also because walking sticks normally cling lightly to the branches.  Beautiful piece and a one of a kind specimen.

Scanned Image!

SOLD

Item 23

Putting these up is so much fun. This is an unusual piece - you will probably never see this for sale again. This is a wonderfully clear and beautiful piece of Dominican amber that contains a roach eggbeautiful too! A few other insects are here.


Scanned Image!

$442

Item 24

If this picture does not catch your eye, nothing will.   The amber itself is about 3 x 2 x .6 inches in size.  The leaf that you see if about 1.25 x .5 inches - that is a BIG leaf.  While I suppose that this is from a a Hymenea tree (the one that makes the resin that turns into amber) I cannot be for sure about this statement.  It is very rare that you see an individual leaf like this.  One side is perfect, the other almost perfect.  The specimen is a museum piece, perfect in all ways.  This amber is from Chiapas, Mexico.

 

$2,900

Item 25

Rather a large chunk of amber/rock from the LaToca mines.  This 4 pound 11 ounce giant has many pieces of good sized amber in the rock.  Cool piece, large and heavy, showing in-situ amber - VERY unusual.  I put this here, not because it is expensive but it is just cool.

Scanned Image!

$165

Item 26

The Tingidae are a family of  small  insects in the order Hemiptera that are commonly referred to as lace bugs. They are called lace bugs because the pronotum and fore wings of the adult have a delicate and intricate network of divided areas that resemble lace.

Lace bugs are usually host-specific and can be very destructive to plants. Most feed on the undersides of leaves by piercing the epidermis and sucking the sap. The then empty cells give the leaves a bronzed or silvery appearance. Each individual usually completes its entire lifecycle on the same plant, if not the same part of the plant.

They are very rare in Dominican amber.


Scanned Image!

$390

Item 27

This is a perfect planthopper, Homoptera, Flgoridea.  The name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environment and from the fact that they often "hop" for quick transportation in a similar way to that of grasshoppers.  The wings are spread very well.

You can  see the ancient pattern of this animal's wings.  They have survived for 20 million years.  This is just a wonderful piece of amber.

Actually there are two planthoppers, but only one has decided to spread it's wing and give us a thrill.

$725

Item 28

Everyone needs a lizard in their collection.  This one is not perfect since it is not $85,000.  Since this is one leg and most of the tail, the price is right.  Not only that, but this is a particularly fine specimen.  The details of the skin is out of this world.  Looks like it died yesterday.  The amber is not entirely polished and looks even better for it.  You will find this is "as good as it gets".  The scan below is for size only, it is a poor scan with incorrect colors.

Scanned Image!

SOLD

Item 29

This is one special piece.  Not only is there a beautiful female mosquito, but the shape of the amber is VERY unique (see scanned image below).  If you are thinking about making this into a pendant, it will hold that shape that catches the eye.  Not only that, but there is an area on this piece that has barnacles!  Just an unbelievable situation.  The barnacles are on the surface of the amber, not inside.  Wow, this is just a very unique piece.

There is what I think is another mosquito (not sure).  Also there is a larval form of an unknown beetle.

Mosquitoes are members of the insect Family Culicidae. Insects, belonging to this family possess paired scaled wings, paired halteres, slender bodies, and long legs. They belong to the insect Order Diptera (“true flies”). Mosquitoes are similar to flies though. The differences among the two insects include: scales on the wings of mosquitoes, longer legs and female mosquitoes possessing a long mouth part called proboscis in the female, used for piercing their victim’s skin. The males do not have the probiscis - so when you get bitten by a mosquito, you are being bitten by a female.

To find mosquito's in amber is a VERY rare occurrence. Mosquito's are not attracted to the aeromic compounds found in resin (amber). Which means they have no reason to find themselves trapped in that sticky resin from the tree. Gnats and such are attracted to the resin, but not mosquito's. As generally known, mosquito's are attracted by a mammalian scent - not the chemical aroma of a tree.  This is a piece of amber from Chiapas, Mexico.

Scanned Image

$1,540

Item 30

There are only 50 or 60 amber scorpions in the world today.  The picture above shows one of the most beautiful scorpions ever found, with slightly open pincers and a raised stinger that presents a perfect picture.  Its body is about .7 inches long.  Before mating, the male and female engage their pincers and move back and forth as if dancing.  When the male drops its sperm capsule, the female picks it up and keeps it for fertilization.  The juvenile specimens are often carried on the back of the mothers until they become mature. This is amber from Mexico, Chiapas amber, Simojovel mines.

Most often, the creatures trapped in the resin are tiny bugs or floral fragments, but an example such as this is considerably rarer. Suspended in the center of this clear, beautifully shaped amber nugget is a scorpion, every detail of its arthropod anatomy is visible, its tail extended with the vicious barb curved around, its tiny jointed legs bent in towards its body, and one of its larger claw legs extended to the side as though in a final despairing gesture as the sticky tree sap covered its helpless body.

Probably family Buthidae, this specimen is seen best from the ventral side.  This is as rare as they get and it is priced as an unbelievable deal for anyone.

 

Scanned Image

$3,900

Item 31

Probably one of the most unusual pieces of amber from the Dominican Republic that I have ever seen.  Most of the bubbles inside this 20 million year old piece are black.  My suspicions are that this is from debris from the forest floor.  They are located on different planes inside the resin.  What an effect!  The piece if about 2.5 x 1.5 x .3 inches in size and about 10.8 grams.  This is what I consider a museum piece.  On a practical aspect, this would make the most unusual and perfect pendant I have ever seen.

Scanned Image!

$1,540

Item 32

Leaf in amber

This is a rather rare one. It comes from a parasitic larval form that only lives in spiders. - thus the nickname of 'spider fly'.  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).


Scanned Image!

$1,250

Item 33

Here is almost what I would consider an impossible situation. We have 2 whip scorpions (this one and the one above). Both came fromthe 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...........and offered to you at a fabulous price.

Scanned Image!

$4,289

Item 34

This is a strange one.  I do not know (yet) what it is, but I do know it is special.  I am not even sure what to put down as  a guess on this one - does anyone know?  Just found out, this is a cockroach in the family Corydiidae (Polyphagidae).  This is the first time I have ever seen one of these.

Scanned Image!

$392

Item 35

Smallish piece of Baltic amber.  There are about four primitive  flies in this piece - really fun to look at, Nematocera.  But wait, there is more.  I suspect that the picture on this page would get your attention.  This has a fairly large twisted wing parasite (for twisted wings that is) fly, Strepsiptera.  UNBELIEVABLE.  These are very rare.  By the way, this is Baltic amber.

They are endoparasites in other insects, such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches. Most species of females never emerge from the host after entering its body, but finally die inside it. The early-stage larvae do emerge because they must find an unoccupied living host, and the short-lived males must emerge to seek a receptive female in her host.

To the uninitiated the males superficially look like flies. Adult males are very short-lived, usually surviving less than five hours, and do not feed.  This is a male twisted wing.  Probably on of the finest specimens of twisted wing parasites I have ever seen (I have seen 4 in my lifetime).

Scanned Image!

SOLD

Item 36

This is probably the most perfect chunk of amber I have ever seen.  Perfectly clear, this weighs 239 grams.   I am offering it for 'only' $6 per gram - MUCH less than it should be.  The is what I consider a wholesale price. This is a museum quality piece of amber.  You will never see a better piece of Dominican amber than this.  It is about 4 x 3 x 2 inches.  You will love these pictures and this video.

 

$1434

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