A large piece of copal from the region of Santander, Colombia, in which a termite swarm is captured. Since termites are social insects, they are usually found in large numbers, often in swarms of hundreds or thousands of individuals. The termites in this block of copal, although fossilized, are probably only thousands rather than millions (e.g. termites in true Baltic or Dominican amber) of years old. But the basic biology of termites as social insects shows little change from the Mesozoic to present times. A cautionary note to amber buyers: Copal is NOT true amber, and copal from Colombia is among the youngest of fossil plant resins. Unfortunately, lots of Colombian copal has been offered to buyers as amber, and priced accordingly. Although the insect inclusions are often strikingly beautiful and perfectly preserved, you should be aware that you are not purchasing truly ancient inclusions; they are probably only several thousands of years old. Santander copal often appears almost glass-like in it's lack of deep color and high transparency. It is very soft and tacky, and will probably rapidly degrade over time. Caveat emptor!!

specimen courtesy M. Chisholm collection