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Hello Fossil Forum members. I have recently been expanding my amber collection. I have all sorts of amber from all over the globe, from Chiapas amber to Baltic Amber. But one type of amber in particular has caught my attention recently. Burmese amber, or as some call it “Burmite”. It is from the cenomanian around 99 million years old. It comes from northern Myanmar (Burma). The inclusions within this amber where alive when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. I have recently been obsessed with Burmese amber. I just bought a small piece of Burmese amber from a Chinese dealer online. It is small (about 2 centimeters). But don’t let its size fool you!! Within the small piece is a very significant inclusion (in my opinion). There is a female biting midge. It is engorged with the blood of some unknown vertebrate. Doing my research on blood engorged insects in amber, I came upon this article https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/Science/2013/1015/46-million-year-old-mosquito-filled-with-blood-is-a-scientific-first It says that the chances of finding a fossilized blood engorged mosquito was unlikely, due to the set of circumstances that would have to occur. A mosquito was found engorged in blood, from the middle Miocene of Montana. About 46 million years ago. Blood engorged insects have only been reported on a handful of occassions. But perphaps the most exciting and interesting thing about the biting midge I bought, was that it might have bitten a dinosaur, since it is from the middle Cretaceous. So could It have DNA? Maybe, small fragments of DNA could be preserved within Amber (theoretically). But not nearly enough to clone a dinosaur. The piece of Burmese amber with the biting midge will arrive in about 2-3 weeks. I am hoping to be able to photograph it better with my microscope, and get a close up look at its blood engorged abdomen. Here are the pictures the seller provided,

This plate is from Douhugou of Liaoning. Two mosquitoes. Are they genuine?