Sunday 24 November 2013

A very old picture

About 50 million years ago a little wasp like creature had a very bad day.  It flew into some sticky sap and got stuck.  Game over for the poor little thing!

50 million years later I get rather excited as I take ownership of a thing I have always wanted - some amber with an insect inclusion.  Of course, it would have been much more exciting to find the amber rather then buy it, but I'll cope.

What makes this whole idea even more remarkable is that this insect could have landed on my window this morning and I would not have been able to notice one single difference between it and a 50 million year old wasp.  Thats a pretty good product longevity if you ask me!



This is a rather heavily cropped version of the insect.


You can find more close up images at I Heart Macro and Macro Monday 2.  SM



28 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more, Stewart, an amazing capture!!!

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  2. That is a fine piece of history and well written post. Enjoyed reading that.

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  3. Hi Stweert. very interesting post and photo.

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  4. Very cool, Stewart! Great post, thanks for sharing! Have a happy week!

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  5. You need to check for Dinosaur blood!

    Seriously though, I would be so excited to own that! :)

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  6. Ok this is officially amazing! Reminds me of Jurassic Park.

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  7. That is very cool Stewart, It would have been n exciting find for sure, Good day

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  8. What a beautiful piece of amber. I have amber earrings on right now but no insects in them.

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  9. Wow.. That is very old. Interesting post Stewart. Have a lovely day :)

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  10. That is amazing! Good post, Stewart, and thanks for sharing!

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  11. what a treasure ~ great shots too ~ carol ^_^

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  12. Who REALLY put that modern day wasp in that amber???
    ;)
    RB

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  13. You have a very nice example there Stewart. We looked at lots in Dominican Republic where there were armed guards at the shop doorway.

    Don't mention the cricket please.

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  14. What a fate! But very fascinating for us to see.

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  15. Excellent close up! I love amber. It has a beautiful warm glow to it and it doesn't weigh much in jewelry.

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  16. What a beautiful and special thing to own.I often wonder why some creatures retain their form throughout millions of years and others change almost beyond recognition.

    Ruby

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  17. A true wonder of the natural world

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  18. What a fascinating treasure. I know what you mean about finding it yourself. I've got this rubbish looking fossil that I found a couple of weeks ago on the Jurassic coast but to me it is treasure indeed.

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  19. What a beautiful specimen Stewart! Thanks for sharing the love up-close with I Heart Macro:-)

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  20. That is awfully cool! I agree it would be really exciting to find such a piece, but buying is pretty good too.

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  21. Oh what a fun artifact to own! Very interesting information and a nice and different idea for the macro memes.

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  22. Faszinating! I would be excited to own that too!

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