Amber containing insects with possibly blood

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FA Zurich, Switzerland Jul 31, 2016

Hi All,

I recently got a piece of amber with 2 insects inside (Aprox. 50 Million years old according to the seller), after close inspection it got me thinking.

It appears to me that one of the insects is full of possibly blood.

If that's the case couldn't this possibly contain some extracts of DNA of some extinct species from about 50 Millions ago?

I'm not an expert and I can't even say if the kind of insect is one that consumes blood. I would like to hear the opinion of one expert about this.

I attached some pictures.

I look forward for your feedback.

Thank you!

Thumbnail by FA Thumbnail by FA Thumbnail by FA Thumbnail by FA
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Flapdoodle Minot, ND Jul 31, 2016

Whatever is in the insect, I doubt very much that it is blood (other than its own, that is), as its mouthparts, from what I can see, were not suitable for a blood-feeding life style...

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FA Zurich, Switzerland Jul 31, 2016

Quote from Flapdoodle :
Whatever is in the insect, I doubt very much that it is blood (other than its own, that is), as its mouthparts, from what I can see, were not suitable for a blood-feeding life style...


Maybe it's not blood, but what I'm wondering is the possibility of being blood. I would like to know what kind of species that insect is, only then we will know for sure if there is a possibility of being blood or not.

Do you recognize by any approximation the kind of insect that is?

What makes me more suspicious that this is a mosquito is because of those kind of "wired" legs or whatever that is, they are very long... with regards to the mouthparts there is some kind of "wired" stuff there just like a mosquito from today:

http://theyoujournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Mosquito.jpg

Just maybe the angle of the photo doesn't make it clear, but it does look like to me as a mosquito, but I would really like to hear an opinion from an expert.

Possibly also the mosquitoes of the past were a bit different? After all Millions of year maybe change insects a little it I guess.

This message was edited Jul 31, 2016 12:35 PM

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Flapdoodle Minot, ND Jul 31, 2016

Well, I hate to break this to you, but I am somewhat of an expert on mosquitoes, and if this is a mosquito, I'm the Pope...

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FA Zurich, Switzerland Jul 31, 2016

Any ideas what is it then?

Post #10246760
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Flapdoodle Minot, ND Jul 31, 2016

Unfortunately, I cannot see any structures clearly enough for a definitive i.d.; possibilities include a non-biting fly or even a small moth that has lost all the wing scales. From the looks of it, it likely was dead and starting to decompose when it was encased in the resin that then became amber.

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