It is not known whether the fossil content of amber accurately represents the arthropod biodiversity of past forests, and if and how those fossils can be compared with recent fauna for studies and predictions of biodiversity change through time. Our study of arthropods (mainly insects and spiders) living around the resinous angiosperm tree Hymenaea verrucosa Gaertner, 1791 in the lowland coastal forest of Madagascar, and arthropods trapped by the resin produced by this tree species, demonstrates that amber does not record the true past biodiversity of the entire forest. However, our results reveal how taphonomic processes, arthropod behaviors, and ecological relationships can influence arthropod death assemblages in resins and play a crucial role in controlling their taxonomic compositions.