What is Amber? Hundreds of thousands , maybe millions of years ago, pine trees oozed copious amounts of sap just like their modern day cousins. Insects, arachnids ,small lizards, frogs, seeds, pollen and whatnot became trapped in their sticky resin. As their bodies became trapped and shut off from the air, the chemicals in the pine sap preserved them perfectly, down to the tiniest hair. No, you cannot do like the movie and resurrect dinosaurs or other creatures by cloning DNA found in mosquitos (the DNA is too fragmented or scrambled). Very old resin is called amber, newer stuff, only hundreds of thousands of years old is called Copal. Copal was burned by the ancient Central American Indians as incense, an offering to their gods. I won't get into an argument as to wether something is amber or copal--they are both ancient solified tree sap, they both have fantastic fossil inclusions, they both burn and smell like pine, they both shatter if hit--if it wallks like a DUCK, and quacks like a DUCK, it is a duck. Please do not bother me with lame arguments--it will waste my time looking through the tons of raw amber that I have,, seeking some new and more wonderous fossil insects! Most amber comes from the Baltic Sea where it washes up on the beaches, also the Dominican Republic and Colombia. It can be found in other parts of the world, but those areas produce the most specimens with interesting fossil insects (inclusions). If you have questions, e mail me at butterflyzoo@webtv.net

This piece has 6 beetles and a dozen white termites in it. Also, air bubbles and detritus 400USD

This piece has an ant that served as a living bottle-fed copious amount of nectar, its abdomen swelled to 20 times its normal size. In times of famine, members of the colonies coud draw food from this living storehouse

A soldier (pinching) termite. Rare Find 600 USD

Fossil Moth 1 cm Very Rare 900 USD

Fossil Wasp (very rare) 600 USD

Fossil Mosquito (Jurassic Park, anyone?) 500 USD

Winged Male Termite ( a replete, or sexually mature termite) Very Rare 600 USD

Uncut Amber by the Pound Enquire at butterflyzoo@webtv.net