A RESEARCHER made one of his greatest discoveries at Walmart when he stumbled upon a Jurassic Era insect that hadn’t been spotted in North America since the 1950s.
The discovery was made by Michael Skvarla, the director of Penn State’s Insect Identification Lab, in the year 2012. It wasn't until 2020 that he realized the importance of the bug.
In a post shared on the university’s website, Skvarla shared that he found a rare bug called a giant lacewing on a wall outside the store.
He said he’d found it while he was a student and that he didn’t know of the specimen’s importance years later when teaching a class and showing the specimen to his students.
“I remember it vividly because I was walking into Walmart to get milk and I saw this huge insect on the side of the building,” said Skvarla.
“I thought it looked interesting, so I put it in my hand and did the rest of my shopping with it between my fingers. I got home, mounted it, and promptly forgot about it for almost a decade.”
www.the-sun.com
The discovery was made by Michael Skvarla, the director of Penn State’s Insect Identification Lab, in the year 2012. It wasn't until 2020 that he realized the importance of the bug.
In a post shared on the university’s website, Skvarla shared that he found a rare bug called a giant lacewing on a wall outside the store.
He said he’d found it while he was a student and that he didn’t know of the specimen’s importance years later when teaching a class and showing the specimen to his students.
“I remember it vividly because I was walking into Walmart to get milk and I saw this huge insect on the side of the building,” said Skvarla.
“I thought it looked interesting, so I put it in my hand and did the rest of my shopping with it between my fingers. I got home, mounted it, and promptly forgot about it for almost a decade.”
I took home an insect from Walmart but found its Jurassic-Era truth years later
A RESEARCHER made one of his greatest discoveries at Walmart when he stumbled upon a Jurassic Era insect that hadn’t been spotted in North America since the 1950s. The discovery was made by Michae…
www.the-sun.com