Spider and Prey Frozen in Amber

by Dan Stout


image Courtesy Oregon State University

The amazing piece of amber pictured here is the only known example of a spider actually fossilized in the process of attacking its prey.  Not only are the hairs of the spider and wings of the wasp perfectly preserved, the amber actually shows over a dozen intact threads of spider silk. 

Normally I'd come up with a creepy description of what we're looking at here, but the good people at Oregon State University beat me to it. 

“This was the wasp’s worst nightmare, and it never ended. The wasp was watching the spider just as it was about to be attacked, when tree resin flowed over and captured both of them.”

Read the whole article here.

I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.