Mating Queen Ant
In-Copuli

I was looking through some specimens of Dominican amber a while ago. One that piece caught my eye was an ant. I ID'd it as a queen - fairly valuable because queen ants are not common and certainly ones in amber
are 'rare'.
I took some pictures of it and put it aside. The next day, I looked
again at the pictures and saw a drone next to the queen. The picture
was unusual, so I got out the specimen and looked at it again. Now,
I do not buy lottery tickets, but I think I may start. When I looked
at the 'pair' - it was really a pair - the drone was mating with the
queen. Of course, she still has her nuptial wings on, but would normally loose the wings after she has mated. In this case, she had them 24 million years ago and still has the wings now. This is probably a virgin female ant. They normally loose their wings once they mate.

We have a mating pair of ants! I do not know of anything like this anywhere. The odds of the event occurring are slim, the odds of the two landing in resin, not separating, and becoming immortalized is beyond comprehension. This is an impossible find. Even the odds of finding this presently are just impossible. The odds of finding this in amber, are just out of this world. It is the find of the century. Nothing will come close to matching this - ever. This is the most amazing piece of amber with insects inside ever to found in the recorded history of mankind.

 

 

This is a close up of the top of the queen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


And now, below the queen (ventral).<

 

 

 

 

 

 
Here are some images taken with photo-montage (these are really good images):Image 1
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>Body details from the ventral side of the queen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The drone.


OK, now take a breath and look at the price of this impossible find - probably the most valuable piece of amber in the world. You will never find anything like this in your lifetime. My email is lundberg@ambericawest.com - feel free to inquire

SOLD

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