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The True Millennium Bug Found And Alive Parts from an article released by the CSRIO. Taxonomists at CSIRO
Entomology have announced the discovery of the "real" Millennium
Bug. Head of the Australian
National Insect Collection, Dr Ebbe Nielsen, reports that the
bug, a small water strider, is harmless to computers. "It feeds on flies
and other small insects, not files," he says. Found at altitude in
mountain streams of southeast Queensland and northeast NSW, this
true bug is presently known to exist at only eight localities in that region.
At about two millimetres in length, it lives on the surface of the
water in quiet areas of freshwater streams. "The "Millennium
Bug" is a 'waiting' predator/scavenger that feeds on small
insects," Dr Nielsen explains. The bug's actual scientific name cannot
be made public until international procedures for scientific naming are
complete, but both its scientific and common names will be the
"Millennium Bug". The "Millennium
Bug" belongs to a new genus of the family
Veliidae (small
water striders) This new genus includes
four species, of which three, including the Millennium Bug, are new to
science. These bugs have an interesting adaptation of the tarsi (feet) that
enables them to 'glide' across the surface of the water without breaking the
surface tension." Bugs from the Veliidae
family are often found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world and
occur on many oceanic islands. Relatives are the only insects to inhabit the
surface of the open oceans. "The study of the Millennium
Bug and its relatives is part of a much larger project that involves the
study and identification of thousands of specimens from the Australasian
region belonging to the infra-order Gerromorpha, the most diverse group
of animals associated with water surfaces "Insects are very
fine instruments for indicating the biological health of their environment. In identifying the various
species of small water striders CSRIO scientists will know exactly what they can
tell us about the health of our streams and water bodies Inland freshwater is one
of The further study and
research on water striders will enable scientists to use them to monitor the
quality of freshwater all over So we may be hearing more about the millennium bug not less |
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