Dominican Amber
Item 1
Nice cab with a small Dipteran (fly) inside. Also has some good quality acient air bubbles (contain 20 million year old air).
Item 2
It is so to find mosquitos in Dominican amber. Possibly because mosquitos are not attracted by the smell of recently extruded resin from trees. Maybe because there are not normally mammals to feed upon near the resin deposition. None-the-less, you just do not see them very often. Rare and highly prized mosquitos, in the family Culicidae. In this piece there are 3 mosquitos! This is just as cool as it gets. The thought that they might carry the DNA from an animal that was bitten 20 million years ago leads to many flights of the imagination. The deatils are very good on this piece.
Item 3
Rather an interesting piece of amber. Not particularly polished, but smooth. This chunk has 3 worker termites, Isoptera. The termites are so bloated that they are almost unrecognizable. A fun piece to look at with a magnifier. You will like this 'different' piece of Dominican amber.
Item 5
This is a very rare specimen. Sawflies are very hard to find (I have seen only 2) in Dominican amber - or any amber as far as that goes. This is a male sawfly, Hymenoptera, Argidae. The 4 antennae on this particular piece are fantastic. This is for the serious collector, not the casual collector.
Item 6
I am not sure what this is, although it is a nice sized animal in a smallish piece of Dominican amber. What looks like an antennae is actually a piece of wood.
Item 7
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.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Item 8
The humble air bubble. Just think this contains air that might have been around 20 million years ago. This is a flat air bubble - rather unusual. It is about 1/3 of an inch across and about 1/16 of an inch deep. It may contain water, but there is no air bubble inside an air bubble to confirm that.
Item 9
Good shape to this piece, it has some very good, clear areas. Inside is a smallish true midge, Diptera, Chironomidae. Some interesting air bubbles (small).
Item 10
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 proboscis - so when you get bitten by a mosquito, you are being bitten by a female. To find a mosquito in amber is a VERY rare occurrence. Mosquito's are not attracted to the aromatic 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. Good piece to have a bit of Jurassic Park history in your hands
Item 11
Nice looking piece with 2 flies, Diptera. The amber is clear and has a good yellow color. There is also a small leaflet near the side.
Item 12
I love this piece. It tells a story (not sure which story, but it is there....). This has part of a chewed leaf.
Item 13
Item 14
Thin and very clear piece of Dominican amber. Inside is small gall gnat, Diptera, Cecidomyiidae. Near it is a very small wasp, Hymenoptera. Also a bit over is an unknown (spider?).
Item 15
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 fourth 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. There is also a fungus gnat, Diptera, Mycetophilidae and a small fly. Finally, what I final also amazing is that there are patterns on the legs (which I am not familiar with).
Item 16
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..........
Item 17
Medium sized cab with 4 flat footed beetles, Coleoptera, Platypodidae. Two of the four are on the sides (and thus harder to see) - although 2 are easy to see.
Item 18
This one I am not sure, but I do know it is large (about .4 inches). Maybe it is a termite without wings. The body is interesting and I am just not sure. My lack of knowledge is your gain on this.
Item 19
I like this one. The amber is very clear and the beetle is easily seen (albeit small). The beetle is a flat footed ambrosia beetle, Coleoptera, Playtpodidae.
Item 20
This has a portion of a leaf, along with some other animals. There is a true midge, Chironomidae and a rove beetle, Staphylinidae.
$19
Item 21
A piece of Dominican amber with 2 worker termites. You can see some areas where the decomposition has caused bloating (rather interesting effects.) Some coprolite deposits near one of the termites. Good price on this piece.
Item 22
A rather good sized piece of Dominican amber with a beautiful treehopper, (Membracidae:Homoptera) with its head shaped to resemble a plant thorn, presumably like those that occurred on its plant host. This is a rather rare piece. This weighs 18 grams.
Item 23
The insects are small, but they pack a punch. A couple of flies, one is a long legged fly, there is what looks like a coprolite, several gnats and even what might (might) be a spider chomping down on a fly. There are some small air bubbles which make the piece hazy (see scanned image).
Item 25
Flag shaped piece of Dominican amber. Contains a black scavenger fly, Scatopsidae plus a wasp and an unknown. Each one is in a different 'layer' of resin flow.
Item 26
46.5 grams of clear yellow amber. This huge piece has bits and pieces of leaves and also a flower. Great piece to put on your desk for everyone to see. Lots of air bubbles also (that makes it cool).
Item 27
I hate to sound wishy-washy, but I am not sure. This is probably a Coleoptera, Colydidae, a large cylindrical bark beetle. It is difficult to see, but this is a very unique specimen - maybe new! Edges on this piece are not polished.
Item 28
Nice sized cab with a male winged ant, Hymenoptera, Formicidae on the edge of the amber. Also has a small wasp.
Item 29
Coleoptera, Homoptera, super family Fulgoroidea, planthoppers. It looks like the animal died on one layer and then covered in another.
Item 30
If you like weevils, you will love this one. I believe it is in the superfamily, Curculionoidea, Cryptorhynchinae (no guarantee on the family ID).
amber pendants
Have we got a great deal for you. We just got back from the Dominican Republic and bought a "bag full" of old pendants like the ones to the left. Some have bugs, most do not, but each one is special and hand done. Since we got such a good deal on them, we pass it on to you, these are only $12 each. You do not get to pick, this will be a situation where we reach into the bag and pull out one randomly. This is a real, real good deal. Our numbers are limited though.
chiapas amber pendants
Just like above, we have come into a good sized bag of Chiapas pendants. They are new (the above ones are "old" - at least the silver is). I do not see a lot of bugs in these pieces, but the swirls and shapes are rather attractive. We are pricing them almost at the price of the Dominican pendants above, but just a bit more..... $14 each. You do not get to pick, this will be a situation where we reach into the bag and pull out one randomly. This is also a super deal!
loupe
We have been looking for a good jewel er's loupe that will not break the bank. This is it. Well built, good optics and something that everyone can afford. Our main goal with this loupe was that it would be a triplet loupe, have good optics and would not break the next day. Finally we wanted a loupe that you could give to a kid (or use yourself) and then not have to cry when the child lost the loupe. This just fits the bill every way around. You will love it. This is a 10X loupe (even though it does say 20X). It has all the power you will ever need.
This has it's own page also.
digital scales
An authentic touch screen scale. It has a lid that opens up to an impressive touch screen scale. It is 4.5 x 2.5 inches x .5 inches deep. Very nicely built - this beauty even comes with a pouch so it does not get scratched. This is really a nice instrument AND they are on sale for only $6.95 .
dominican blue amber ring
This is different. We came into some of these blue amber rings and were so impressed that we now have a few to sell. Inside a room, the sphere looks like normal amber, outside or near a window, the sphere jumps 'beautiful blue' at you. Almost like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Not the slightest idea about sizes, but the inside diameter is 21 mm or 7/8 of an inch. The ring is open on the back side, so it should fit most fingers. We have never seen anything like this before. We have placed a very good price on the ring. The ring is hollow gold plated, 925 silver. It is very light and easy to wear. The rings are copyrighted by Art 7, a great jewelry design and manufacturer located in Poland.
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