Name: Insects
in fossil amber; Insect
Orders: Diptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera and Phylum Arthropoda; Class:
Crustacean: Isopoda
Age: Pliocene
to Pleistocene
Size (25.4 mm = 1
inch): Amber 50 mm long , 36 mm across, 15.4 grams
Location:
Andean Uplift Region, Andes Mountains, Colombia
|  Description:
This plaque of amber displays a most uncommon inclusion, commonly
called a Slater or Pillbug. Actually it is a member of the Crustacea
known as an Isopod. Isopods vary greatly in appearance and are common
inhabitants of many environments. Slaters belong to the Crustacea
of which most are marine dwellers and includes such groups as amphipods,
beach hoppers, shrimp, crabs, lobsters, crayfish as well as isopods.
Slaters are one of two groups of Crustacea that have become terrestrial:
the Isopoda and the Amphipoda. Slaters are the most conspicuous
and are easily recognized by their heavily armored, flattened bodies.
The
other inclusions are a pair of tiny wasps, and ant, several flies,
and a 3 mm Plant Bug (Hemiptera, Family Miridae). |
|
