Beverly the Bug

Beverly the Bug is the first and only known opal with an insect inclusion. It contains "the exoskeleton of a nymphal insect belonging to the order Hemiptera and either the family Tettigarctidae or the Cicadidae".^[1]

It was found on Java in 2015.^[2] Gemologist Brian T. Berger purchased the gem in 2018 and named it Beverly the Bug.^[3] He submitted it to the Gemological Institute of America, which authenticated it as an "unaltered, untampered precious opal, with a genuine insect inclusion."^[4][5]

Though such inclusions are relatively common in amber, some opal-enclosed fossils have been discovered before^[2][6] among silica-containing rocks near geysers, but this is the first that appears to have been formed via the erosion of volcanic rocks.^[3] This raises the possibility that, if there was life on Mars (which had volcanic activity in its past), it too might be preserved the same way.^[1][3]

It has been displayed in the Perot Museum in Dallas, the Tellus Museum in Atlanta, and the Alfie Norville Museum in Arizona.