Class: Insecta, different Orders as described individually.

Lower Cretaceous, Late Aptian-Cenomanian, 108-92 million years old

Crato Formation, Nova Olinda Member, Ceara, Brazil

The Araripe Basin, in Brazil, is home to an amazing variety of wonderfully detailed Early Cretaceous fossils.

The entire formation is known as the Santana Formation, but there are distinctions, and the slightly older, lower, insect-bearing strata, is now known as the Nova Olinda Member, of the Crato Formation, Ceara.

As usual, it is quarrying operations that expose the remarkable insect fauna, just as quarrying for lithographic limestone in Solnhofen has produced an amazing variety of superbly preserved Jurassic fossils in Germany.

As well as many orders of insects, spiders, scorpions, decapod crustaceans, and many plant fossils have been found.

To date no vertebrates have been found in this layer, in stark contrast to the overlying Santana Formation deposits.

When you consider the age of these fossils, they have changed little over millions of years.

The preservation is superb, and these are a must have for the serious collector, or an amazingly different gift.

I trust you will find something of interest amongst this amazing collection of ancient insects.

Any insects from another locality will be noted as such in their description.