Featured in this listing is an amber specimen with chironomidae or non-biting midges. They are closely related to ceratopogonidae or biting midges but unlike their cousins do not feed on the blood of vertebrates, hence they are 'non-biting'. 

Inclusions can be tiny. A good loupe is highly recommended for any amber collector. 

Don't forget to check out my other listings, including CRETACEOUS (dinosaur aged) amber from Myanmar (Burmite). Also other amber and fossil specimens to suit all tastes and budgets!

What is Baltic Amber?

Baltic amber is formed from the fossilized of tree resin from conifer trees of the Sciadopitaceae family of trees which lived in the Baltic Region of Europe 35-55 million years ago during the Eocene period. Most trees of this family are now extinct, though the Japanese Umbrella Pine (or Sciadopitys verticillata), a distant relative of the Baltic Amber tree, still grows in parts of Japan today. 

Many insects and other inclusions were trapped in the resin as it oozed from the trees, and over a period of millions of years, the resin and its inclusions where polymerized, with the organic compounds replaced with non-organic ones, preserving the inclusions. Baltic amber is also known as succinite due to the high concentration of succinic acid within its chemical make up. It is the most common type of fossiliferous amber. A common feature by which Baltic amber can be distinguished from other amber types is the frequent presence of oak-leaf flower hairs, and many of the inclusions can be observed surrounded in a white film formed from the decaying internal fluids of the insect which managed to seep out before the resin fossilised. 

These particular specimens contain various insects (mostly fungus gnats and other diptera).

These fossils are much better preserved and look more or less as they did in life, making them extremely useful to scientists and particularly exciting to fossil collectors.

SEE ALSO:

Selected specimens of Baltic, Dominican, Burmese and other Amber. Copal, Dinosaur and other fossils for sale elsewhere in my shop!

TERMS:

Item is based in the UK. International buyers are welcome, but please bear in mind that I am not responsible for any customs charges/restriction on the import of this item.

Postage can be combined for multiple items.