eBay score: a new insect species

Written byBob Grant

| 1 min read

Listen with Speechify

0:00

1:00

Sure, you can score vintage cars, one-of-a-kind guitar straps, even the odd linkurl:mass spectrometer;https://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15309/ on linkurl:eBay.;https://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15331/ But now it seems that a place in science history can also be purchased on the popular auction website. So learned entomologist linkurl:Richard Harrington,;https://www.rothamsted.bbsrc.ac.uk/Research/Centres/index.php?Centre=BCC vice president of the United Kingdom's Royal Entomological Society, when he recently bought an insect encased in a chunk of pre-historic amber on the site. As the linkurl:BBC;https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7572052.stm reported, the insect turned out to be a previously undescribed linkurl:aphid;https://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/21057/ species that has been extinct for millions of years. Harrington, who is deputy science director at the centre for bioenergy and climate change at agricultural research organization Rothamsted Research, bought the pill-size bead of Balkan amber from a Lithuanian eBay user for 20 British pounds and sent it to renowned fossil aphid expert Ole Heie in Copenhagen. Heie determined that the insect, a member of the __Mindarus__ genus, was new to science and named the new species __Mindarus harringtoni__ after Harrington. While ecstatic about his find, Harrington toyed with the idea of giving the new species a more playful name. "I wanted the aphid to be named __Mindarus ebayi__," he said in a Rothamsted Research linkurl:statement,;https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/corporate/PressReleases/PressReleases.php?PRID=48 "but flippant species names are frowned upon these days! I'm delighted to have a work of nature named after me - even if it is an extinct fossil!"

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member?

Add The Scientist as a preferred Google source to see more of our trusted coverage.

Meet the Author

Bob Grant
Go to The Scientist's LinkedIn Page
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
View Full Profile