Dominican Amber
Item 55
24 million years ago, inside the sticky resin, air bubbles appeared. It looks like those air bubbles formed organic material inside. 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 carrying 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
Probably the nicest and clearest roach, Orthoptera, Blattidae, I have ever seen. About 1/2 inch in size, and the clarity is magnificent. I believe that this is an adult wood cockroach. Fossils in amber are seen, but are normally rather incomplete. There are flagellates inside cockroaches' alimentary systems for the digestion of things they eat, but these microbes would in turn devour their bodies once they die. This is a museum piece.
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
Nice sized piece with about 4 platypodid beetles, Coleoptera, Platypodidae. There are many ancient air bubbles, enough that the piece is a bit cloudy. These beetles dig in wood, and there are some cool areas that should wood 'slivers' scattered around. Also there is a small wasp.
Item 64
An unusual shaped piece of Dominican amber with a very nice female scuttle fly, Diptera, Phoridae. Not far away from the scuttle fly is a small twig from a liverwort.
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 67
Contains an interesting true bug, Hemiptera along with a fungus gnat, Diptera Mycetophilidae and a wasp, Hymenoptera.
Item 69
A large chunk of amber. This does have a very small plant part - a segment from a Bryophyte. But that is not it's call to fame - this has one of the nicest long legged flies that I have ever seen. Just superb, you will love this piece of amber.
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
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
Praying mantises, Orthoptera are soo rare in Dominican amber that it is just so exciting to see one. This one is perfect! The piece of amber is beautifully clear and the mantis looks like "he" is jumping out at you. The perfect piece for a good collection. Mantids (or mantis) are characterized by a lengthened thorax (chest) and a head that can turn 180 degrees. They typically carry their barbed front legs in an attack position. It looks like a praying position, giving them the nickname "praying mantis". They could very well be called 'preying mantis" because they are fierce and fearless, attacking prey from insects to small animals like lizards.
Item 80
This is a strange one. I do not know (yet) what it is, but I do know it is special. I am not even sure what to put down as a guess on this one - does anyone know? Just found out, this is a cockroach in the family Corydiidae (Polyphagidae). This is the first time I have ever seen one of these.
Item 81
This is a rare flower in Dominican amber. I have never seen a flower like this in Dominican amber. You can see the stamens and literally the entire rest of the flower. The flower is large, about 1 inch in size and so easily seen that it jumps out at you. The piece of amber itself is rather large. I do believe that this has significant scientific value. If not, it would make one heck of a pendant. This is one that you will be 100% satisfied with.
Item 82
I like this one - it is large and VERY clear. While there are no animals inside, there are a number of black air bubbles. Probably this is from air bubbles that contain organic mater from the ground under the trees. This is a nice piece.
Item 83
Maybe not the clearest piece, but it does have some good stuff inside. There are some platypodid beetles, Coleoptera, Platypodidae along with female worker ants, Hymenoptera, Formicidae, a gall gnat, Diptera, Cecidomyiidae and even an unknown (maybe some type of weevil?). Finally there is part of a branching set of leaves.
Item 84
I certainly wish I knew my flies better. This one is exceptional. The details of the body are really good and the amber is clear and the specimen is so easily seen. The fly is sitting on top of a sprig of a Bryophyte. This is a good piece.
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
This has a wasp that looks like it is carrying something. Wasps do not carry things, but this certainly looks like it is.............. There is also what looks like a male spider near the middle.
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
If you like large spiders, this is it. Nice sized piece of amber, the spider is large (in particular, the legs). You do not naormally see them this large. By the way, this is a male spider an you can see the sperm sac easily on the pedipalps.
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 96
To me, this looks like a butterfly - you can even see the scales on the wings. I cannot see a probiscis, so I am going to label this as a moth - but what a moth! The details are really very good.
$462
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 99
I like this one, it tells a story. There are about 2 dozen female worker ants that must have ran into a wall of sticky resin. Now on top of that there is a sandhopper, Amphipoda in the middle. How 'he' got there, I have no idea.
Item 100
The perfect planthopper - infraorder Fulgoromorpha, in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha. You can see the beautiful patterns on the wings.
Item 101
Here is the poster child for a spider. On the side is a true midge, Chrironomidae and over on the other bit is the body of a crane fly, Tipulidae.
Item 102
A very nice piece with a good sized crane fly, Diptera, Tipulidae. You can see some great details in the eyes of this animal and the long legs are there.
Item 104
This is a nice piece. It is about 11.5 grams and a bit under 2 inches in length. It is cut to be a pendant - even has the top cut for a pin or cap. It does have good color. The images make it look better than real life. It tends to be dark, but the scans show it as light.
