META-INF/INDEX.LIST

What is this file and why is it accessed at startup? At the startup of every Java program, it would appear that
the paths: "/META-INF/INDEX.LIST" and "" are have the stat file operation applied to them.

I am working on a research project at UIUC and I have an issue with this happening due to the nature of the file
system which the custom JVM we have created works. If anyone has information relating to where / why these
accesses are made it would be very appreciated. Essentially I need to figure out what they are supposed to
be accomplishing since it doesn't seem to matter that they fail. Avoiding them all together or routing
them through an alternative means would be ideal.

Thanks for any responses,
J.J. Sestrich