Mary Bates, PhD

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New on Weird & Wild: Mite and Ant Preserved Together

Clover mite in sand. Public Domain. Now here’s a headache of historic proportions: An ancient ant with a mite attached to its head has been found preserved in amber, a new study says.The unlucky ant and its likely parasitic hitchhiker were trapped in tree resin, which eventually fossilized into amber, about 45 million years ago. The discovery is the oldest evidence of a mite attacking a social insect.Read the whole story here: Mite Attacking Ant Entombed in Amber; Oldest Fossil of its Kind.