Mating Wasps

At first I thought these were ants, but close insepection indicates that they are wasps. To my best knowledge, there is only one other pair of mating wasps fround in Dominican amber. This is the second. When you look closely you will see that one of the pair is wingless. In one family of wasps (Bethylidae) the female is wingless.

Here is what they look like.

A close up of the pair coupling. Very easy to see while nothing blocks the view. The male is on the right and the female is on the left.

A close up of the male wasp. This specimen was found in 2001 at the La Toca mines in the Dominican Republic.

Here is a picture of the female wasp.

The presentation of these animals is fantastic. It is almost as though the made the union and then laid down for posterity. Needless to say this is as rare as hen's teeth.

Here is a scanned image (large).

If this specimen is the one for you then just click on this price.............