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I'm a huge fan of fossil insects (and live ones too, check out this website to get a insect image fix). So when I came across these two plates I impulse purchased them quickly. They have a simple label "Hemiptura (True Bug)" stating they come from the "L. Jurassic - E. Cretaceous" and "Shangdong Province, China" but nothing else to help narrow down the genera. Not being an Entomologist I can only guess at what these insects were.
This looks similar to a modern water strider to me:
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This one has another "water strider" and some kind of beetle looking critter:
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Part of the problem with identifying these insects is the lack of information on the labels. Also, many times fossils from overseas, especially China, can be mislabeled in order to simplify the sellers task or hide the actual site from other collectors or authorities who might prevent valuable fossils from leaving. However, I like them enough to keep them around in my collection and maybe one day I will find out where they come from and what they are.
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