Large Colombian Copal Amber with Insects

A truly captivating specimen of Copal Amber with incredibly detailed insects! This large specimen comes from the Hymeneae oblongnifolia tree of Colombia. The exceptional clarity and golden orange color of this piece allows you to easily view the myriad of insects trapped inside including spiders and winged insects. Golden yellow cloud-like inclusions of perhaps a trapped pollen or moisture can also be seen. It has been polished to a high gloss finish.

Copal amber (or young amber) is a slightly different classification of tree resin than ancient amber. Ancient amber has "crystallized" or solidified to a harder extent than copal amber,  but it forms in the same way. Insects become trapped inside of resin which has been exuded from a tree either for defense purposes or as a healing mechanism following damage. This resin then begins to solidify and harden, encapsulating the insects inside.

The remains of the resin fall to the forest floor and if sufficiently polymerized will then wash into stream beds, or swamps where they are transported naturally to deposition sites. Some remain within the tissue of the tree and are later found preserved in coal deposits. 

The age ranges of Copal from Colombia vary depending upon the region where it was collected and have been dated to between tens of thousands, up to 5 million years old. Colombian copal is considerably harder than copal amber specimens from other locations throughout the world, making it likely from the older part of that age range.

This specimen fluoresces under UV light. We have backlit this specimen to provide more detailed photographs of the inclusions within the Amber.