High Quality (and rare)
Chiapas Amber
This is the fabled Chiapas amber from the Mayan mines in Chiapas, Mexico. It is fairly difficult to get a hold of and is highly prized for its impressive color and transparency. You can find reds, blues, greens and of course amber colors. This is real color, not like altered Baltic amber. This is quite a find and not seen often! You can do just about anything you want with this amber. My suggestion is for jewelry - the depth of color is seldom seen in any amber from anywhere else!
We have actually culled many of these pieces from the other pages in the web site of our Chiapas amber so the more expensive (and usually higher quality) are assembled together.
Item 1
Rare is an understatement. A nice sized chunk of amber (about 2 x 1 x 1 inches) with a feather. The feather is unusual since the barb structure is not what I expect in birds. Even though I suspect it is a bird and not a dinosaur feather. The feather is situated in a diagonal layout. It is almost 1 inch in size and can be seen without a microscope. There is a uniformity to the barb structure without the 'minor barbs' that are so often present Impressive to think that this is from a bird that dies 20 million years ago. It goes without saying that feathers are as rare as hen's teeth.
Item 2
I do not like putting things up that I cannot ID. This is one though. Just not sure, at first I thought it might be a shipworm, but upon second glance, I do not think so, maybe seeds? It is cool though.
Item 3
This one caused me a sleepless night in order to ID it. It’s a planthopper bug (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea), probably belonging to the family Tropiduchidae. Not a huge piece, but big enough to show the wings spread. Unusual and rare.
Item 4
Dragonfly, Odonata. Dragonflies are large and rest with their wings outstretched. Dragonflies are extremely rare in amber. They are seldom seen and are highly prized when found. There is part of what looks like a curled leaf near the head. You can see the eyes, part of the head is not there (imprint is, not the organic portion). The wings are beautiful and seem curled to the body. By the way, this is an amazing price for such a rare animal.
Item 5
What a story this one tells. 20 million years ago a mammal rubbed up to some sticky resin and left some of "his" hairs. Here they are 20 million years later. Beautiful patterns on the hairs - if you know your stuff, you might be able to ID the mammal. Good piece, lots of hairs. Even has a fly and a random leg.
Item 6
Hard to believe, but this is real. It is a terrestrial snail in Chiapas amber. My guess is that this is a Spiraxis snail . A birds may have seized the snail and then lit it drop into the resin. This is a round piece, almost .5 inches in diameter. Snails are VERY rare and seldom seen in amber. On top of that, the sphere as a presentation piece is even better. By the way, there is a headless ant - probably done during a 'war'.
Item 7
Large and very special. This is way over 1.5 kilograms - about 4 pounds of matrix. The amber is a red color, the most rare in Mexican amber. The coolest thing (and most unusual) are the shells on the outside of the piece. Look carefully and you will see a boat load of shells. Very seldom does one see shells associated with amber. This is a great piece. Enjoy the pictures.
Item 8
A philodactylid beetle. Order, Coleoptera, family, Ptilodactylidae. This is a male beetle. There are numerous plant parts scattered throughout. Also a wasp off on the side.
Item 9
All I can say is cool. No animals inside - this is a "wanna be a pendant piece". One side is rough and the other side is polished. The inside is very unique with swirls and forest debris. You cannot go wrong on making this a pendant - the insides are great. The outside almost looks like there are shells on it.
Item 10
This is a big chunk of amber. It weighs 42 grams and man is it loaded. By far, the biggest ticket item is the Whip-scorpion, Order Amblypygi. It is a large animal in this amber, not only large, but VERY rare. Its first pair of legs are thin and long as a whip; little is known about their function. If you are a whip-scorpion expert, you might be able to ID this animal by the pedipalpal patella: they are unusual, even for this rare animal. The animal is abut 3/4 inch long. Tailless whip-scorpions have a normal habitat in the tropical rain forests, they are rarely ever found in amber. But there is even more here. Off on the other side is a large cricket and near the cricket is the head of an ant who must have been in a battle.....and lost. There is what looks like the remains of a spider and some more remains that I cannot identify. Also there are a few other ants, different species. One of which has the thinnest and longest legs I have ever seen. There is the back end of a silverfish. If you haven't figured it out by now, this is a very special piece of amber, large with very rare animals.
Item 11
I sometimes find in amazing what is really found in amber. Here is a piece with a lot of mammalian hair. Looks like a rather good sized tuft of hair was yanked out of the mammal when it brushed up against the tree (and pulled away from the tree).
In addition to all the hair follicles, there are a bunch of animals in the amber. Looks like a planthopper, Homoptera, Fulgoridea next to the hair. There are some springtails in the hair. The springtails are large, not like the normal small ones. Not far away is a half dozen or more of tropical stingless bees, Hymenoptera, Apidae:Melipodidae. On the bees, you can even see the facets of the eyes. They are beautiful.
There is even a biting midge, Diptera, Chironopdidae, what may be a pleasing fungus beetle, Coleoptera, Erotylidae, an unknown beetle larvae and a lot more (even has a fungus gnat). This is a large piece of amber 2 inches x 1.5 x 1 inch, 44 grams is weight.
A beautiful piece that will be cherished since it tells such an interesting story and is in such good shape. By the way, this is priced very well, you will never find a better and/or cheaper specimen.
Item 12
If this specimen doesn’t stop you in your tracks, nothing will. Barnacles do not occur inside amber—ever. At least, that’s what every textbook, paper, and seasoned collector will tell you. A few may appear on the surface from ancient shorelines, but encased within the amber itself? That borders on the impossible.
And yet… here it is.
This extraordinary Chiapas amber from the San Antonio mines contains barnacles fully suspended within the resin, a find so improbable it practically begs for a research paper. It doesn’t just whisper “study me”—it shouts it. Pieces like this simply do not turn up in the marketplace. They don’t “circulate.” They don’t “occasionally appear.” They exist as scientific shocks, the kind that rewrite assumptions.
You will not see another example like this.
A video is included so you can appreciate the specimen’s structure from every angle. For collectors, researchers, and those who love the thrill of the impossible made real, this is a once-in-a-lifetime amber.
Item 13
A very nice triangular shaped piece of Chiapas amber. There is a planthopper inside, Homoptera, Fulgoridea. Nice piece at a nice price. You will like the scanned image.
Item 14
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. You specimens are often carried on the back of the mothers until they become mature.
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.
Item 15
I will go put on a limb and ID this as a darkling beetle, Wattius. It is my guess that this might be a new species. One fossil species, Wattius reflexus (Doyen & Poinar) has been described from Dominican amber. I do not know of any from Chiapas amber. This is a good piece that has a LOT of potential. If it is a new species, I would appreciate some recognition on this.
Item 16
I do not know on this. Maybe seeds? They are strange no matter what they are. Good sized piece with these unique inclusions.
Item 17
If you like crane flies - this is a good one. I particularly like the legs and spread wings. Good price on this clear beauty.
Item 18
This is a great piece. Very large and very red. It is about 4.25 x 1.5 x 3 inches and about 175 grams. This is the perfect piece.
Item 19
This is a very rare piece of Chiapas amber. Either one of the insects I will describe commands a very high price. Both being in the same piece (and it is a great piece of amber) is unbelievable. First, there is a female webspinner, Enbioptera. Webspinners have glands on their front legs that emit silk to line their galleries under the bark. Males are normally winged and females not. At the end of their abdomen there are two short tails (cerci). webspinners are rarely found in amber.
Second: There are 3 planthoppers, Homoptera, Cixiidae. But wait - two are mating! This is the first time in 30 years I have ever seen this. Rare, rare, rare. If you are lucky, you may find mating gnats, but NEVER planthoppers. Can you image these 2 planthoppers have been mating for 20 million years.........no joke about that.
Item 20
If you know your insects, this picture will take your breath away. It is an adult male webspinner, Embiidina. The order has also been called Embiodea or Embiidina. Webspinners continually extend their galleries to reach new food sources, and expand their existing galleries as they grow in size. The insects spin silk by moving their forelegs back and forth over the substrate, and rotating their bodies to create a cylindrical, silk-lined tunnel. You can see the silk gland on the forelegs of this adult male. Webspinners are very rare in amber - this is a museum quality specimen. While you do not see the shape of the amber piece in these pictures, it resembles a quarter piece that is tangentially cut from a circle.
Item 21
Really a sharp piece of Chiapas amber. Rectangular, about 1 inch x .5 inch x .5 inch in size. This is very clear and has a stilt-legged fly. The Micropezidae are a moderate-sized family of acalyptrate muscoid flies in the insect order Diptera. These insects are commonly called stilt-legged flies, after their characteristically long legs. The fore legs are markedly smaller than the other pairs. Mostly, they are long-bodied, often black flies, usually with infuscated (darkened) wings. This one is perfect. Rarely found in amber, the details are superb, the wing venation is nothing less than spectacular. What an addition for someones collection.
Item 22
This is a large piece of amber, 43 grams. It is about 2.5 inches x 1.5 x .7 inches in size. The praying mantis is small, but perfect. If you were to by the amber without an insects inside, it would be about $400 - with the praying mantis inside, this beauty is only $1,600. That is a great price for a rare praying mantis. You can even see the patterns on the legs. There are also 2 tropical stingless bees and worker ant (rather transparent). Great piece at a fantastic price. You cannot go wrong with this piece of Chiapas amber.
Item 23
Mating Webspinners
The primary feature of web spinners is their snake-like heads, with the forlegs short and stout. Web spinners have glands on their front legs that emit silk to line their galleries in debris and under bark. Males of most species are winged. The females, always wingless, are excellent mothers that take care of their young in the web. At the end of the abdomen there are 2 short tails (cerci), usually asymmetrical in the male and almost always so in the female. Web spinners are rare in amber. Mating web spinners in amber are an impossible find, although here it is. These web spinners have been mating for 20 million years. Finally, I believe this is the only mating pair of web spinners ever found in any amber anywhere in the world. An unbelievable specimen.
Item 24
A rather special piece of amber. This defines the concept of a 'chunk' of amber. It is almost 7 x 4 x 3 inches (that is big) and weighs a whopping 1,250 grams (2 and 3/4 pounds). Large heavy, beautiful............but wait, there is more. Look carefully at the images of this piece. There are fossil remains all around it. These are Brachiopod imprints. around the majority of the amber. You just do not see this very often. A strong confirmation of the role of sea water and amber. There are shells outside the piece; as though the amber was covered by shells; all that you see on the piece are shells not dirt, regularly amber is covered by something called "cascajo" (dust, clay) there are parts that you actually something as seashells (a bivalve). This is the most unique thing we have seen in a long time; we just wonder what this would look like as a display piece in a store? Someone recently emailed me: "Looks like Ostrea sp. fossils on the exterior, and a partial barnacle remnant as well. Outstanding specimen".
Item 25
Rare as hen's teeth, this is a male webspinner, Embioptera. All individuals including the wingless females and winged males are capable of producing silk, which issues from the spinnerets located in the basal segment of the swollen front tarsi (at the tips of what looks like the front legs). The silk is used to make a network of galleries in debris or under the bark of tress. These are rare animals.
Item 26
Just a great piece with a well spread planthopper, Homoptera, Fulgoroidea. You can even see wing patterns on this guy. I like this one.
Item 27
What I like about this tropical stingless bee is the perfection of the amber (and the bee), Order, Hymenoptera, Family Apidae:Meliponini, Genus, Proplebeia, Species, dominicana. The shape and clarity and just beautiful. The flattened tibia of the hind legs were presumably used to collect pollen but it is also thought that they collected resin from the amber tree.
Item 29
This looks like the larvae of a lacewing (Neuroptera). I cannot say which family, Ascalaphidae or Myrmeleontidae, I think it is one of these. Lacewings are rather rare in amber, the larvae are even more so. This is a small piece, but the amber is clear and perfect. an excellent specimen, this is a great addition to anyone's collection.
Item 30
This is a perfect shape to put in a pendant or similar piece of jewelry. It has a nicely seen, long-horned beetle, Coleoptera, family Cerambyceidae. It is really a nice piece, at a great price.
Item 31
Some animals are 'easily' found in amber, some are not and some are just about impossible. This is a "just" impossible one. A planthopper, Cixiidae: Bothriocerniae. Wings spread as if see me now. A truly amazing piece. The planthopper is a bit on the small side, but VERY easily seen. You can see the proboscis, extended down the ventral side of the body. The details on the wing are amazing. Next to the planthopper is a dark amber tube. My guess it the planthopper landed on the first tube (dark one) and was covered by another clear resin flow. This is a rare piece and it has a beauty that is unparalleled. There are 2 genera and nearly 40 species nowadays, most diverse in the Caribbean.
Item 32
Queen Ant - This is a good sized piece of amber with the fabled queen ant. Queen ants are very rare and seldom seen.
This is a queen, winged, which means it's either before mating or just after. Fertilized ant females shed their wings and start a colony (becoming a true queen). Generally, only queens and drones (males) can have wings, and when you find one with a big, thick body (thorax and abdomen), it's a queen. This gal is almost 1/2 inch in length. There are also a host of other animals in this amber, bees, wasps, what looks like a caddis fly and others.
Item 33
I have here an amazing insect. While it is 'just' an earwig (order: Dermaptera) - the wings are unfolded. While I would not label earwigs as rare, seeing the wings unfolded is rare.
Few details:
a. Extreme Compactness: Wings shrink dramatically, allowing for hidden storage.
b. Complex Folds: Around 20 specific fold lines, including curved and bent creases, allow for this remarkable folding.
c. Self-Folding: The structure is inherently stable, snapping open or shut without complex muscle action, similar to slap bracelets.
d. Biomimicry: This natural origami has inspired 3D-printed grippers and other deployable structures.
Function: They use these wings for flight, to find food or mates, and the cerci help in the folding process.
Flying may be at the top of the list for desirable superpowers, but not many of us think of the incredible wings of humble earwigs (order Dermaptera), common insects small enough to fit on a penny. Often referred to as “pincher bugs” in the U.S. due to their large pincers, they can often be found crawling around dark, damp places like basements and wood piles. Their name comes from the historic misconception that they sought out the inside of human ears, but rest assured, they want nothing to do with your earwax. They do, however, have some of the most impressive wings in the animal kingdom.
Usually neatly tucked away under leathery forewings, earwig wings spring into shape when needed for flight, expanding more than ten times larger than their folded size. They’re a prime example of a natural folding pattern optimized for both flying strength and flexibility.
Item 34
This is one beautiful fly. The amber is clear and the fly looks like he could just jump out of this hardened amber. I am not sure what fly it is, but will guess (and I could be wrong in this) that it is a large dance fly, Diptera, Empididae. I really love it when you can see details like the facets of the eyes.
Item 35
Jurassic Park, here we come. This is a fabled mosquito (Family Culicidae) found in Mexican amber. So rare - you just do not find them often anywhere! Mosquitos are not attracted to the odoriferous resins from trees. Mosquitoes are attracted to humans through the CO2 given off. So when you find a mosquito in amber - well, they are just rare. There is also a spider (maybe a huntsman?) along with a number of gall gnats, Diptera, Cecidomyiidae. This amber is good sized with a lot inside.
Item 36
ewThis is probably the largest pseudoscorpion that I have ever seen, Order Chelonethida. It is about 9mm long, they are usually 1-3 mm in size. This one's pincers are extended as if it is attacking an unknown enemy. If I know my pseudoscorpions better, I would be able to ID this one since the details are so easily seen. This is quite a piece.
SOLD
Item 37
Jurassic Park whispers from deep time—right here in your hand.
Mosquitoes in amber are the dream specimens collectors talk about but almost never see. Unlike gnats and other resin-loving insects, mosquitoes avoid tree resin entirely; they seek the warm breath and CO₂ of mammals, not the sticky aroma of sap. That’s why genuine mosquitoes in amber are among the rarest arthropods you can own—true scientific prizes.
And this specimen doesn’t give you just one… it features two beautifully preserved mosquitoes, suspended mid-flight in a slightly darker Chiapas amber matrix that highlights their silhouettes perfectly. Their delicate legs, wings, and unmistakable forms stand out among the other inclusions like cameo figures frozen at the moment of motion.
For a collector, researcher, teacher, or anyone who wants a bit of prehistoric magic on their desk, this is a remarkably priced, museum-worthy piece. Opportunities like this don’t come often—and when they do, they don’t linger.
If you’ve ever wanted to own something that feels like it stepped straight out of Jurassic Park, this is your moment.
Item 38
Wow - here is a very rare specimen. It is a snakefly, Order Rhaphidioptera, family, Inocellidae. Only a few have been reported to date. Adults have distinct head, thorax and wing features. This one is a male snakefly.
Item 39
Rather large piece, about 2 inches x 1 inch x 1.25 inches and weighs 141 grams (quarter pound). There are 4 very nice tropical stingless bees, Hymenoptera, /family, Meliponini, Genus Proplebeia, species, dominicana. Also scattered around this chunk are winged ants, a wasp or two, various gnats and other Nematocerans. Even has a small Bryophyte.
Item 40
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 side 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. I can only see one pincer, my guess is that the other one is not there. The scorpion is on the side of the amber piece.
You will not find a scorpion at a better price, anywhere!
