Dominican Amber Rainforest Association

Description: This amber piece displays a number of insects. There are a pair of examples of sand flies. The modern day sand flies are vectors for various tropical diseases including Leishmaniasis. Like mosquitoes the females need a blood meal in order to lay their eggs. It is presumed that these ancient examples fed in the same way. Next the Coleoptera are represented by a pair of beetles, one of which is an ant-like stone beetle (Family Scydmaenidae). Finally the Hymenoptera are represented by an ant and a wasp, making for a wonderful representation of the insect diversity from the amber forests of the Dominican Republic.