A spider that wants to be a fake ant. This is Colombian copal - not regular amber. If you are into spiders - this is unique. Here is the piece. You will never find a cooler piece than this. Look at the image - looks like an ant, eh? Now count the legs - this is a spider, Araneae. It is an ant mimic spider. Talk about evolution at its best. This spider has evolved to look like an ant so it can pass itself off and eat what it looks like. The best example of animal mimicry that I have ever seen. This is one for everyone's collection.
A busy piece. The picture above reminds me of a scene from the movie "Alien". This contains a rather large immature planthopper, Homoptera, Fulgoridea. It shows some good details. . There is a rather transparent worker ant and good caddis fly, Trichoptera.
As you may know, mosquitoes in amber are VERY rare. Since they are not attracted like most insects to the sticky resin, they seldom fly into it. This is a mosquito and it could be made into a beautiful pendant, Nematocera, Culcidae.. While beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, with this one, the beholder is eyeing a beauty. Probably one of the finest mosquitos that I have ever seen. The details on this specimen are out of this world. This would be perfect to be made into a pendant. A band of silver or gold with a clasp - just beautiful.
Attack by hell ants 100 million years ago. Nice short article.
Jorge Martinez
A picture of the Doug Lundberg and Jorge Martinez in a fossil shop, Tucson, Arizona. Mr. Martinez is the owner of the Amber World Museum in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Join the AMBER list:There now is a discussion group devoted to the study of amber. The intent of this discussion is public discourse on amber formation, types, general questions, almost anything that relates to amber. Also encouraged on this discussion group will be questions on jewelry making, and web sites about amber. The discussion group is not moderated. This means that all postings will go through without moderation (no one will censor them.) This is an international group, covering just about any country you can imagine (some of which I have never heard of!) Most people just watch and listen to the discussions that go on. You are encouraged to participate, but certainly do not need to. This discussion group was formed and is maintained by Doug Lundberg. His e-mail address is lundberg@ambericawest.com. All questions about the discussion group should be directed to him. To join, go here.
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Scientific American, February 2020, had a picture showing the land continents with major ‘discoveries’ (page 20). One arrow pointed to Brazil and under that, it said:
“Despite the long dry spells in Brazil’s Caatinga region, scientists found the tree Hymenaea cangaceira drizzles copious nectar from flowers to attract pollinating bats: a full-sized tree can release 240 gallons of the stuff, with 38 distinct scent compounds, over a single dry season.”
Here is the reason for this inclusion on this amber page. Hymenaea is the tree in New Zealand that produces copious amounts of resin that is called ‘kauri gum’. Not sure about this relationship, but if I am a betting person (I am), I would put money that there is a direct relationship between the flowers and resin production.
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A new page with some cool items: https://www.ambericawest.com/cabs-2/
Scientists discover an 'alien' insect in amber from 100 million years ago
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