a super rare Giant Winged MastoTermes Termite along with 10 adult winged male ants of several species, fungus gnats and small gall gnats
in an authentic Dominican Amber Gemstone
excavated in the La Bucara amber mine in the Summer of 2011
DR4627MastoTermes
$450.00 No Reserve

Termites and ants are arch enemies so it is quite rare to find them together in the same amber gemstone. MastoTermes Termites are the largest Termites found in Dominican Amber, they are quite rare. Mastotermes termites today are represented by only a single species found in tropical areas of Australia and New Guinea. Mastotermes is the largest know extant (living today) termite and one of the largest insects recovered in amber. Smaller winged Reticular adult termites are common in Dominican amber, one can also frequently find wingless sterile worker termites, rarely a Nasute Soldier termite and every so often a stout Warrior termite often larger in size than the winged adults, workers and Soldier termites. Many times just the wings of adult termites are found in Dominican amber which are from male and female adults who shed their wings after mating. Warrior termites have elongated highly sclerotized heads adapted for defense, the mandibles are powerfully long and hooked to act as a scissor to dismember, lacerate and behead the termites' enemies which are usually ants. In the case of the Nasute Soldier termites the mandibles are greatly reduced and the head is shaped like a snout and composed of a large gland through which a sticky repellent secretion is directed at the enemy, sort of like a chemical defense. A mature colony of termites can be underground, in mounds or in concealed cavities in trees and and can be composed of about 1 million individuals. Each colony produces from 5,000 to 25,000 winged adults each season. Most colonies have a single queen and a king but up to 33 queens and 17 kings can occur in a single nest. The nests are built of feces of semidigested plant material and soil and are enveloped by a thin layer of excreted lignaceous plant material. Associated with many worker termites in Dominican amber are six sided fecal pellets and variously shaped air bubbles emerging from the termite's body. Such bubbles represent gases produced by the intestinal microbes of the termites, which continue to metabolize for some time after the termite has been enclosed in the resin. The earliest fossil record of termites is from the Cretaceous period, of the 116 described fossil species of termites - 14 are from the Cretaceous, the rest are from the Tertiary: Eocene and later. Termites have been found in Lebanese amber and also New Jersey amber. However Dr. Kumar Krishna reports that the finest preserved termite specimen from the Mesozoic is in New Jersey amber. The largest termites in Dominican amber are the Mastotermes termites, of which only a single species is found today in tropical areas of Australia and New Guinea. Mastotermes is the largest know extant (living today) termite and one of the largest insects recovered in amber, this specimen is almost 30mm in length. Termites occur in both Dominican and Mexican amber, termites are common in Dominican amber although finding termites in amber with their wings still attached is not common. Each wing has a fracture line at the base of the wing allowing the termites to quickly discard their wings after their mating flight, it is uncommon to find a termite with all four wings still attached to it's body. At regular times during the year, most notably just prior to the rainy season, termites gather in huge swarms to migrate, then mate and construct new nests. In Dominican amber, one can find winged adults, soldiers and workers or sometimes just the wings from adults which are shed after mating. A mature colony of termites can be underground, in mounds or in concealed cavities in trees and and can be composed of about 1 million individuals. Each colony produces from 5,000 to 25,000 winged adults each season. Most colonies have a single queen and a king but up to 33 queens and 17 kings can occur in a single nest. The nests are built of feces of semidigested plant material and soil and are enveloped by a thin layer of excreted lignaceous plant material. Associated with many worker termites in Dominican amber are six sided fecal pellets and variously shaped gas bubbles emerging from the termite's body. Such bubbles represent gases produced by the intestinal microbes of the termites, which continue to metabolize for some time after the termite has been enclosed in the resin.

Some photos of our last amber excavations in Asia January 2010 (new top secret location for now)

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Some photos of our amber excavations in August 2007 at La Toca and La Bucara amber mines

Description This is an authentic Dominican Amber Gemstone excavated in the La Bucara Amber Mine in the early part of 2011.

Dominican Amber  In the Dominican Republic, Hymenaea trees are called Algorrobo. The Hymenaea tree exudes vast amounts of resin which over millions of years of pressure hardens into amber. Generally amber is found because a landslide along a steep slope in the mountains exposes veins of black lignite. If the lignite contains amber it is gradually extracted by digging along the vein with picks and shovels. After the amber is found it is chiseled by hand out of the shaft walls, put into burlap sacks and passed out of the mine where it is separated from the rock by machete. Larger chunks of amber make it possible to view inclusions almost immediately by holding the amber up to sunlight to determine if a large inclusion has been discovered. Fossil bearing amber is polished locally. To view photos and videos of our some of our amber excavations in the blue amber mines in mountains of the Dominican Republic and to see a small java applet of the amber mines click here - (opens in a new browser window).

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About Us We have been collecting amber in the field and prepping rough fossil amber specimens since 1993. Photographs of our specimens have appeared in National Geographic, Nature, Science, Scientific American, Discover, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times and others. We have been featured in PaleoWorld's The Amber Hunters. We offer authentic museum quality Dominican Amber display specimens of rare insects in amber and also authentic rare Dominican rough unprepared amber for sale. Our collections include museum quality rare insects in amber, unusual botanicals and flowers in amber and also rough unprepared Dominican Amber gemstones. We have traveled many times to the Dominican Republic where we have chiseled beautiful amber gemstones out of the lignite layers deep in the amber mines north of Santiago. We have excavated in the Palo Quemado and Los CaCaos blue amber mines and also in La Nueva Toca and the world famous La Toca amber mines way up in the mountains north of Santiago. For many years we have extensively collected mid Cretaceous New Jersey amber in the Raritan formation of central New Jersey and have traveled many times to collect late Cretaceous and early Paleocene amber in the Hanna formation of eastern Wyoming. We have collected mid Cretaceous amber in the Black Creek formation of eastern North Carolina and we have spent weeks collecting mid Cretaceous amber in the northern most Tundra of Alaska. Some of our most recent collecting trips have been in October of 2003 to the western Aleutian Islands some 1000 miles west of Anchorage to explore and collect Miocene amber, August of 2004 and April of 2006 we were back in the Dominican Republic to collect Miocene amber from the Palo Quemado amber mines which have recently closed due to the miners finding little amber, we were back to the Dominican Republic in April of 2006 to video in the La Toca amber mines, and most recently in August of 2007 we excavated in La Toca and La Bucara. The La Toca amber mines had much water whereas on the other ridgeline the La Bucara amber mines were nearly dry! We collected much amber from both La Toca and La Bucara. Recently in January 2010 we have collected at a new site of early Eocene amber in Asia. As these specimens are examined and prepared we will post some additional photos of this new locality. We have donated many hundreds of amber specimens to museums in the United States and have several dozen new species of insects in amber named after us. We have examined several thousand specimens of rough Burmese amber and have prepped many new Burmese fossil amber specimens. We have traveled to Europe with colleagues to examine unusual spectacular Dominican Amber specimens in private collections and we consider the amber curators of the museums in Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata and New York City our friends. Exploring for and collecting amber along with the examination and research of amber is our passion. To view photos and videos of our some of our amber excavations in the amber mines in mountains of the Dominican Republic and to see a small java applet of the amber mines click here - (opens in a new browser window). Our amber comes direct from the Dominican Republic amber mines east of the world famous La Toca amber mine. These specimens do not go through any middle men, we acquire these specimens from the miners and mine owners directly at the amber mines.

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