Is this genuine praying mantis amber?

[Ginger0412]

Is this genuine praying mantis amber?

If anyone knows, please let me know. I appreciate everyone's comments! thank you!

 

 

[Pseudogygites]

A beautiful mantis, fossil or not! I remember studying a museum exhibit specifically about how to identify fake insect inclusions in amber, but I can't remember much from it. I think a great quantity of large air bubbles was one of the telling signs, and it looks like yours only has a few small ones. Also the texture; if the amber around the insect looks dark, cloudy, and/or more like plastic than amber, it's probably fake, and yours looks pretty standard for authentic amber. Maybe you can administer some of the tests on this website...

https://www.balticwonder.com/blogs/news/amber-real-or-fake

... on an isolated portion of the amber specimen to determine if the amber itself is genuine. The process for crafting fake insects in amber, if I remember correctly, is taking a dead bug from nearby, putting it in a mold, and pouring melted, translucent or transparent resin inside. Ergo, if the amber is fake, the insect is fake, and if the amber is real, the insect is real. There's no real way I can think of to put a fresh insect in a preexisting piece of amber without leaving some gaping hole or fill-in marks.

[Randyw]

Best test is to get a u.v. Light and shine it on it. It should floresce….

[Rockwood]

My impression is that you should assume it is fake until tests prove otherwise. 

[daves64]

I would say it is real. Not "posed" at all, not centered & that one hind leg is in two pieces (a sign that it struggled to get free).

[daves64]

8 hours ago, Pseudogygites said:

A beautiful mantis, fossil or not! I remember studying a museum exhibit specifically about how to identify fake insect inclusions in amber, but I can't remember much from it. I think a great quantity of large air bubbles was one of the telling signs, and it looks like yours only has a few small ones. Also the texture; if the amber around the insect looks dark, cloudy, and/or more like plastic than amber, it's probably fake, and yours looks pretty standard for authentic amber. Maybe you can administer some of the tests on this website...

https://www.balticwonder.com/blogs/news/amber-real-or-fake

... on an isolated portion of the amber specimen to determine if the amber itself is genuine. The process for crafting fake insects in amber, if I remember correctly, is taking a dead bug from nearby, putting it in a mold, and pouring melted, translucent or transparent resin inside. Ergo, if the amber is fake, the insect is fake, and if the amber is real, the insect is real. There's no real way I can think of to put a fresh insect in a preexisting piece of amber without leaving some gaping hole or fill-in marks.

Some real amber is dark and/or cloudy (Indonesian for example), plus not all amber, even Baltic, is heat treated to remove cloudiness & clarify it. And large amounts of air bubbles really isn't a good indicator as to whether or not it is fake. As for fakes, real amber is actually used frequently. The piece is cut in half & one half is hollowed out a bit. The insect is placed in the hollow with a look alike resin and then the pieces are glued back together or even heated to the melting point & then pressed together (the same process used for "pressed" amber). It is then polished to hide the separation line. So real amber doesn't mean a real insect, it could just mean the artist/forger is pretty good. Personally I prefer getting raw, unpolished pieces with the oxidation crust still intact. So inclusions or not, it's likely to be real amber.

Edited October 15, 2022 by daves64

[Rockwood]

30 minutes ago, daves64 said:

Not "posed" at all,

I can just picture someone asking a bug struggling in resin to say cheese.  

[daves64]

16 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

I can just picture someone asking a bug struggling in resin to say cheese.  

Yeah.. But fortunately, the bugs are usually dead when used for fakes, so no "cheese" needed. Which is how you get the posed vs natural in some pieces. Some bugs are dead before being entombed in the real stuff, but the ones that aren't usually tear legs apart trying to get out. I've yet to see one in genuine amber that has it's legs all spread out in a "natural" state, like it was just walking along, minding it's own business when it got splatted, or the wings extended for flight.

Edited October 15, 2022 by daves64

[Rockwood]

10 minutes ago, daves64 said:

. But fortunately, the bugs are usually dead when used for fakes,

Were I a forger I would see that as a weakness worthy of exploiting. Live mantis aren't that hard to come by.

[daves64]

12 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

Were I a forger I would see that as a weakness worthy of exploiting. Live mantis aren't that hard to come by.

Good thing you aren't.. Market might get flooded with even more "genuine" fakes (which is the only genuine thing about them). 

[Rockwood]

3 hours ago, daves64 said:

Good thing you aren't.. Market might get flooded with even more "genuine" fakes (which is the only genuine thing about them). 

I'm too soft hearted to do that to such a marvelous creature, but we really can't over stress caution when it comes to the more sailable pieces of amber.