Fossil Amber with Ancient Bristletail and Much More

Description: This piece of amber houses as its main inclusion a ancient insect known as a Bristletail. The Bristletails are members of the Thysanura, a member of the Sub-Class Apterygota, or wingless insects. They are thought to be the most primitive of insects, and may never have had wings throughout their evolutionary history. The Thysanura carry three appendages, the two cerci which flank the central epiproct. These processes are fringed with bristles that are the source of the common name. This one is accompanied by a Bark Louse (Psocoptera), a flying ant (Hymenoptera), and the ‘ghost” (exuvium, or shed skin) of a spider.