WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) -- Scientists have found a few ancient insects frozen in what is Earth's oldest bug trap.
Two microscopic mites and much of one fly were discovered preserved in tree resin. At 230 million years old from the late Triassic Period, they are about 100 million years older than the previous record for bugs trapped in amber.
While older insects have been found in rock fossils, researcher David Grimaldi of New York's American Museum of Natural History says these are better preserved.
Scientists found them stuck among 70,000 droplets of amber unearthed in northeastern Italy. The mites are too small to be seen with the naked eye and the fly is a tad tinier than a fruit fly.
The ancient mites, according to the abstract of the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are similar to those found in present day, with only two pairs of legs.
The abstract goes on to states finding the fly "will have profound implications for understanding the evolution of terrestrial members of the most diverse phylum of organisms."
Earlier this year, the oldest known pollinating insect trapped in amber was found, dating back 100 million years.
