Unknown Insect Discovery on eBay - Dr Richard Harrington's Discovery

Who would have thought that an insect, previously unknown to science could be discovered on eBay, an online auction site?

A scientist, Dr Richard Harrington purchased an amber (fossilized tree sap) piece with an ancient insect trapped in it. He paid just £20 or $40 for this tiny pill-sized specimen which was pretty cool anyway since it is millions of years old. The specimen came from Lithuania - the Baltic nations have long been a source of amber.

Fossil aphid expert, Professor Ole Heie in Denmark later identified it as a long extinct aphid species that had never been seen before.

Dr Harrington has a sense of humour. He said, “"I had thought it would be rather nice to call it Mindarus ebayi. Unfortunately using flippant names to describe new species is rather frowned upon these days.” So Professor Heie named it after the discoverer - Mindarus harringtoni.