Mindarus harringtoni

Mindarus harringtoni is an extinct 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.

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, 2008

The fossil was sent to Ole Heie, an aphid expert in Denmark,[1] who confirmed the insect a new species, now extinct.[2] The insect was 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 itself is long extinct.[2]

See also

References
  1. Eccleston, Paul (2008-08-20). "Aphid Expert in Denmark". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  2. "eBay insect fossil is new species". BBC News. August 20, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2011.


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