Fossil Amber Isopteran Worker and Warrior Sociology
"6 dozen insects and 3 millipedes"

Termites practice extreme social living, with the queen and special males exclusively reproducing and passing along the genes of their other relatives that are organized in caste-like work functions. This amber has ample representations of two important castes within the Isopteran colony, the workers and the warriors. Which is which is readily apparent in the photographs. Both castes are sterile. I estimate some 5-dozen total Isopterans.

The specimen also contains a form of beetle (Order: Coleoptera) frequently found in association with termites that is currently being described for the first time. A member of Family Scarabaeidae, the Genus will be named Termitodius, in recognition of that association. There are another dozen of these beetles in this specimen that with their dark brown coloration greatly add to the exotic nature of the specimen.

Hold on, more yet, there are also 3 millipedes, those inhabitants of dark and dank places that have many legs. Arthropod Subphylum Myriapoda includes four subclasses. Diplopoda (the millipedes) and Chilopoda (the centipedes) are names familiar to most people. The two other subclasses, Pauropoda and Symphyla, comprise more elusive creatures of dim, protected places such as leaf litter and dirt. Myriapods are most noted for having many legs (ranging from <10 to a couple hundred pairs) and there are some 13,000 extant species. Many species have glands that secrete foul-tasting compounds as a chemical defense. Chilopoda (centipedes) have one pair of legs per body segment, are predators, and the first pair of are claws with poison glands that they use to capture prey. Diplopoda (meaning double legs) include the millipedes. Each body segment is formed in early development when two adjacent embryonic segments fuse, resulting in each adult body segment having two pairs of legs. While some are carnivores, most feed on decaying vegetation.

This amber that exhibits superb clarity has been hand-polished to a glassine finish. It weighs 31.1 grams (more than a full ounce) and is a whopping 70 mm across.