- Mindarus harringtoni
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Mindarus harringtoni Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hemiptera Family: Aphididae Subfamily: Mindarinae Genus: Mindarus Species: M. harringtoni Binomial name Mindarus harringtoni
Heie, 2008Mindarus harringtoni is a species of aphid. The insect was discovered when Richard Harrington, a scientist and vice-president of the Royal Entomological Society of London, won an auction on eBay for a fossilized specimen, later to discover it was an unknown species. The fossil was bought from an individual from Lithuania. The insect itself is 3–4 millimetres (0.12–0.16 in) long and was encased in a piece of amber 40 to 50 million years ago.
The fossil was sent off to Ole Heie, an aphid expert in Denmark,[1] who confirmed the insect a new species, now extinct.[2] The bug has been named Mindarus harringtoni after Harrington, who first considered naming it Mindarus ebayi after the site he won it on.[2]
The fossil is now housed in the Natural History Museum.
Mindarus harringtoni is thought to have fed on a tree called Pinus succinifera which is itself now long since extinct.[2]
See also
- Coelopleurus exquisitus, another species discovered on eBay
References
- ^ Eccleston, Paul (2008-08-20). "Aphid Expert in Denmark". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2591856/Unknown-insect-discovered-on-eBay.html. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ a b c "eBay insect fossil is new species". BBC News. August 20, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7572052.stm. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
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