A classic fable enacted in Dominican amber, the tale of the spider and the fly is apparently nearly timeless, since this encounter took place about 20-25 million years ago. The flow of liquid resin caught both animals in their traditional roles -- the spider (perhaps a salticid, or jumping spider) as predator and the fly (probably a small tipulid or cranefly) as the prey. With a bit of imagination, you can almost see the fly ensnared in the spider's web (but the "web" is most likely to be stress lines produced in the resin).

Clues on the inter-relationships between inhabitants of the amber forest millions of years ago can often reveal themselves in amber when closely scrutinized, which allow some reconstruction of life events which took place millions of years in the past. For instance, still lifes and other tableaus in amber can often provide insight into when and how specific behaviors and complex interactions, such as predator-prey relationships, arose between organisms .
organisms arose.

[Approximate magnification x 6 ]

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