Dominican Amber
Item 55
24 millionyears ago, inside the sticky resin, air bubbles appeared. It looks like those air bubbles organic material inside them. The bubbles appear to be polar, with a dark side and a light side. Quite an affect. Cool piece.
Scanned Image!
Item 56
Great piece of amber, very clear, great color that has a single and fairly large, mite. The mite looks like it is carry an air bubble on its back.
Item 57
You know what I like about this.........you can see the pattern on the animal's wings. How cool. You would think that after 24 million years, the pattern would be gone, but it is not. This is a planthopper, Homoptera, Delphacidae and also 1 fly, Brachycera.
Scanned Image!
Item 58
Here is something you do not see very often. This is a queen ant. These are obviously very rare (the third I have ever found). The queen is difficult to see because of the layering of the resin flows - but she is there.
Item 59
This is a flat and thin piece of amber. The Pseudoscorpion is a fairly good sized, that is it can be seen without a microscope (albeit small.) If you know your Pseudoscorpions, this should be easy to ID. There are regular and numerous extensions from the body (see image) that are very telling.
Scanned Image!
Item 60
This one is different from everything else on this page. This does not have any animals inside. It is perfect for a pendant........a band of gold or silver around it would be beautiful. In particular, that back side is not polished which makes the front side just 'jump' out at you - really nice.
Scanned Image!
Item 61
This is Chiapas amber (Mexico) not Dominican. 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 under-surface of the abdomen by a few silken threads.
This particular specimen has a fracture running through the animal. This is a natural fracture and not glued or put back together by a human. In fact it is this fracture that makes it an affordable item. Otherwise see number 21 on this page. This is a very rare specimen. The price is phenomenal.
Item 62
Almost as rare as a queen ant is this mayfly, Ephemeroptera. A complete and perfect animal. Good details that have been preserved for more than 24 million years. As you may know mayflies live hours to maybe 2 days, at which they die quickly after mating. A rare piece.
SOLD
Item 63
Like the one above, this is a special piece. Some pieces of amber are just special, hard to say why, but they are. This has a cockroach off to the side, Blattaria. The roach is shorter and 'fatter' than normal. Perfect body (for a cockroach...). I am not quite familiar with this type of roach. The wings, the body shape.....
Item 64
Couple parts to this piece. First there is a beautiful planthopper, Homoptera, Fulgoroidea, part of what appears to be a rolled leaf and finally this even has a caddis fly, Trichoptera. Good piece for a collection.
Scanned Image!
Item 65
14.2 grams of pure Dominican amber (large). It has a flower from a royal palm, Palmae, Roystonea. The flower is difficult to see from all sides, since there are air bubbles and such blocking the view, but when you do see it - wow. I have only run into a small number of these flowers in 20 years. There is a cool tube with air bubbles going through the amber. Off to the side there are some crane fly legs. Finally there is a fly at the top of the flower.
Item 66
Item 67
A rather good sized piece of amber with a lot in it. First, there are air bubbles which makes the viewing difficult. There are some winged termites (and some extra wings scattered around) and a leafhopper, Homoptera,
Item 68
Small cab with a great bristletail, Archegonia. This is a rather rare specimen in amber, very infrequently found. In particular, this is a small specimen.
Item 69
Item 70
Irregularly shaped piece of amber (it has polished bumps). This contains an unknown fly, a barklice, Pscoptera (even shows a wing pattern after 20 million years) a parasitic wasp, a couple of very small unknowns and finally a good sized, neat looking mite.
Item 71
Item 72
Two spiders in this large chunk of amber. One spider is in the dead center (once pictured at the left) and the other is off center. The off center is the interesting spider. I should know the family of this spider, but cannot recall it it. Unusual, with large pedipalps................really cool.`
Scanned Image!
Item 73
This piece has two great animals. First, there is a planthopper, I think in the family Deliphidae, Homoptera. What just gets me every time is that you can see the wing pattern on this 20 million year old animal. Totally amazing. Right next to the planthopper is a small spider - almost as if the spider is jumping on the planthopper (it is not....). The entire piece would make a lovely pendant.
Item 74
Nice cricket, Orthoptera and 2 others - an unknown beetle and unknown Dipteran. Nice sized piece of amber, good for someone's collection.
Scanned Image!
Item 75
Item 76
A very nice piece of Dominican amber. Not large, but clear and fun to look at. Among the organic debris, there is a worker termite, Isoptera.
Item 77
Hard to know where to start with this magnificent piece. There are a few midges, Diptera, Chironomidae, flies, Brachycera, a large springtail, Collembola and even a large spider. Scattered around are legs that appear to have come off a crane fly. Also close to the middle is a stingless tropical bee, Hymenoptera. There is one fly near the middle that stands out from the crowd. The details on the head are out of this world. You can see the facets of the eye as though 'he' died yesterday. This would make a beautiful picture to go along with the large chunk of amber. Quite the piece.
Item 78
This is a rare piece. It is small, but the cockroach inside is large. A particularly well shaped nymph is struggling in this resin before it met its demise. Good piece. There is a small leaf beetle also. The specimen is good.
Item 79
A different tropical stingless bee, Hymenoptera, Meliponini, genus Problebeia. Right on the dorsal surface is what looks like a small pebble - although I doubt it is that.
SOLD
Item 80
Just a great cricket, Orthoptera jumping along a sea of 25 million year old air bubbles. Easy to see with some great detail about the animal. Good price for a cricket. There are two fungus gnats on the other side, Diptera, Mycetophilidae.
Item 81
Good sized piece of Dominican amber. In the corner is a tropical bee, Hymenoptera, Meliponini. Normally I have no problem with putting this up, except in this case the bee is larger than it should be. I do not know.......
Item 82
Unbelievable. This is the best mosquito, family Culicidae, I have ever seen. It is in Chiapas amber - and it is perfect. Mosquitoes are so very hard to find since they are not attracted to the odoriferous sticky resin from trees. As you and I both know, they are attracted by heat and CO2 (us). Because they are not attracted to the smelly resin, they are seldom 'caught' in the resin and even less often turned into amber. Rare and perfect.
This guy has impressive eyes and very long legs. You can even see the pattern that was on her body 20 million years ago. She is so easy to see and all details of the body are exquisite. This is a fantastic piece (and the price is right) to ad to your Jurassic Park collection.
SOLD
Item 83
In opposition to the piece above, this piece is very small. Do not buy it for the size, but the animal is perfect. There is a fungus gnat, Diptera, Mycetophilidae at one end of the piece.
SOLD
Item 84
Big piece of amber, 31 grams. There is a flat footed ambrosia beetle, Coleoptera, Platypodidae and a moth fly, Diptera, Psychodidae. Finally there is a nice, small wasp. Also there are number wood plugs from the ambrosia beetles. Not much else. I would recommend you purchase this because of the size, not the animals.
Item 85
This is a good piece with great clarity throughout. The pseudoscorpion is next to some debris on the side of the piece. While not large, the little guy is just right. This is a nice addition for anyone's collection.
Item 86
Item 87
Here it is. There is a difficult to see, tropical stingless bee, Hymenoptera, Meliponini and part of a spider's web. There is also single bract from the covering of what may be a flower. The web appears to be dragged though the amber, but you can ID it definitely as a spider's web. The sticky globules are visible on many parts.
Item 88
A comb-clawed beetle, Alledulidae. Nice piece of amber, the beetle
is near a fracture, but still can be seen.
Item 89
Floral parts - parts of flowers, stems, you name it. Actually I think this is part of a flower. Nice piece of amber.
Item 90
Isopods have seven pairs of legs, corresponding to the last seven thoracic segments. They dwell in damp environments such as river banks or beaches, or inhabit tree stumps and humus.
Item 91
This is a small and flat piece of amber with the Pseudoscorpion on the edge, which makes it difficult to photograph well. The are numerous surface glazing, but the animal is good.
Item 92
Item 93
Good piece that contains a nymph of a planthopper, Homoptera and an unknown beetle on the other side.
SOLD
Item 94
Unusual specimen. It has many bugs, but none that we can ID. The one of interest is the one near the edge which reminds me of a squid.
Item 95
This has a cab shape to it with some stress lines in the amber. This does contain an unusually large midge, Diptera, Chironomidae.
Item 97
A lot here -there is a mite, 2 wasps, Hymenoptera, a scuttle fly and what looks like a piece of wood. Interesting piece of amber.
Item 98
Rarely seen on planthoppers is a brush tail on this little guy. The young produce a tail of long wax filaments from an area near the tip of the abdomen. Being refractive, they are very noticeable, causing a predator to strike at the tail. The predator ends up with a mouthful of waxy filaments while the now 'tail-less" planthopper darts away. This is a good specimen.
Item 100
There is a lot here. I have always had a hard time figuring out ticks vs. mites. I think this has 1 tick and 2 mites (one of which is a beetle mite, Obribatidae). There is also a bunch of legs at one side that were cut off from a large animal. Finally there is what looks like an insect that was 'packaged' by a spider.
SOLD
Item 102
Item 103
Hang on to your hat, this has so much stuff in it, I had a hard time figuring out what to put as the first picture. As you can see, a cockroach, Blattidae. The roach even has the marking on the head after 24 million years - unbelievable and beautiful. This has a rare bristletail, Thysanura, a beetle larvae, female worker ant, Hymenoptera, Formicidae, wasp, Hymenoptera, a planthopper, probably Issidae and a midge, Diptera, Chironomidae. You will love looking at this.
SOLD
Item 104
The perfect piece to have made into a pendant. A gold or silver band going around would make this into a beauty. It is about 1.5 x 1 x .3 inches. This will be nice, and it is priced to sell.
SOLD
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