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 This
1.8 inch by 1.9 inch, 15.1 gram plaque of amber is from the Andean
uplift region of Boyaca Province, Colombia. It is home to what is
doubtlessly the LARGEST Alate, or flying termite, I have ever offered.
Usually, I put a coin in the first photo so one can judge the size
of the amber. Depending on the size of the piece, I will use a quarter
or a dime. In this case, at 37 mm from the tips of the antennae
to the ends of the wings, this one DWARFS the coin by a fair margin.
The most likely genus for this gaint is Mastotermes, one that was
found throughout the ancient tropics of the Caribbean, but now is
only found in Australia. Flying termites are the sexual form of
termites which swarm from the colony in huge numbers to fly weakly
to a new site, shed their wings,and form another colony. Modern-day
termites time the emergence of all colonies in a region to swamp
the predators, giving at least a few the opportunity to found new
colonies. Is is accompanied by over FORTY flies and midges, two
tiny spiders, an ant, a wasp, and a pair of tiny beetles, all of
which look like tugboats circling the liner Queen Elizabeth.
By any measure,
this specimen is magnificent!!
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