Connected on 2007-06-04 10:30:00 from Nags Head, North Carolina, USA
- 10:08am
- Bugscope Team we are READY as coolie-o's!
- Bugscope Team ho margie!
- Bugscope Team hi, i mean!
- Teacher I'm here without the students just getting a heads up
- Bugscope Team cool.
- Bugscope Team you can practice driving if you want...
- Bugscope Team Hi Margie!
- Bugscope Team Hi Margie!
- Teacher What am i looking at now?
- Bugscope Team I just had a couple of impromptu visitors; it happens a lot.
- Bugscope Team I believe this is the larva
- Bugscope Team This is the head of the larval mealworm -- the long skinny form.
- Teacher Awesome!
- 10:15am
- Bugscope Team Is this working as you had expected this morning?
- Bugscope Team Looks like you are moving around fine.
- Teacher Yes, I just wanted a little practice going north sout east and west.
- Bugscope Team We put the pupa, the larva, and the adult on the stub, plus a few other critters like an ant and a fruit fly or two.
- Bugscope Team Cathy did all the prep today, and now she is training a couple of people on the TEM.
- Bugscope Team Sure, you bet.
- Bugscope Team She can log in as a teacher if you'd like.
- Bugscope Team she or he.
- Bugscope Team Yep, won't cause any problems. Use the same password but choose another name
- Teacher With my password?
- Bugscope Team yep
- Bugscope Team your name lowercase
- Bugscope Team first name all lc
- Teacher okay, we're trying now
- Bugscope Team we might have to delete that from the chat log
- Teacher When we want to view the other specimens do I just tell you?
- Bugscope Team okay Lora is here!
- Teacher great
- Bugscope Team no, you can click on a preset to see all the samples
- Bugscope Team You can select another preset from those on the right of chat here.
- Teacher got it
- Bugscope Team no. 6 is the tail of the pupa; no. 5 is the mouth of the larva; etc.
- 10:20am
- Teacher thanks
- Bugscope Team wherever you see a little pool of silver paint you know there will be an insect/arthropod close by.
- Bugscope Team So if you drove down south here and barely saw a pool of Ag paint you would know you were close to some other bug.
- Bugscope Team info for free navigation of the stub -- for exploring
- Teacher okay
- Bugscope Team whenever you move away, like if you go exploring -- you can always get back by selecting a preset.
- Bugscope Team Hi Linda! Linda and Lora please feel free to ask questions.
- Teacher So I would just click on the preset and I'll go there, right?
- Teacher thank you, what are we looking at?
- Bugscope Team yep
- Bugscope Team try a preset
- 10:25am
- Teacher We're working on getting the children in the lab and on task now.
- Bugscope Team yes if you were to drive off somewhere and then wanted to re-ground yourself you could just click on one of the presets.
- Bugscope Team okay, no problemo
- Bugscope Team ah the fun part
- Bugscope Team you can see in the background here that the larva is lying on a dried pool of silver paint
- Teacher okay
- Bugscope Team Hi Jack!
- Bugscope Team Welcome to bugscope!
- Bugscope Team Please let us know when you have questions for us.
- Bugscope Team Oop Jack went pale for a sec.
- Teacher We're still getting everyone on the same page.
- Bugscope Team Oh now everyone is on, almost...
- Bugscope Team hello students! wow, there's a bunch of ya
- Bugscope Team please ask us questions if you have any, and we will try to answer.
- 10:31am
- Bugscope Team We are seriously outnumbered.
- Bugscope Team this is the head of the larval form of the mealworm.
- Bugscope Team you can see that it has all those mouthparts and also little rudimentary antennae.
- Student What is the opening in the middle?
- Bugscope Team at 45X magnification, that means you are looking at the larva as if it were 45 times bigger than normal. that's a big bug!
- Bugscope Team that is the entrance to the mouth, conner.
- Bugscope Team In the middle at the top of the image is the mouth
- Bugscope Team You can see that the jaws close at about that place.
- Bugscope Team The jaws are hard to see but have sharp points, especially now you can see the one on the right.
- Bugscope Team You can see the tiny hairs, which are called setae (see-tee).
- Student What are the hair things?
- Student What are the black spots?
- Bugscope Team Those hairs are sensory -- they are probably mechanosensors.
- Bugscope Team Meaning that they feel motion and transmit that feeling to the brain.
- 10:37am
- Bugscope Team The black spots look sort of like holes in the cuticle from here. You might zoom in on them to see better
- Bugscope Team The black spots are places where there is some mucus that has dried onto that space and left an opening.
- Bugscope Team in other words, those blacks spots are holes in the bug
- Bugscope Team See the micron bar? 1000 microns = 1 millimeter.
- Bugscope Team so 311 um is 0.311 mm.
- Bugscope Team um = micron
- Student j
- Student Were are his eye
- Student Where did the mucus come from?
- Bugscope Team μm us what we should have used for micron in the text.
- Bugscope Team They might be hidden from view right now, because the bug is on its back
- Bugscope Team the mucus is just slime that probably came out of the mealworm -- we really don't know where it came from.
- Bugscope Team We should be able to see them on other bugs though
- Bugscope Team μm is, I should have said
- Bugscope Team Yeah, I think the eyes are too far up on top of the head for us to see. In some insects they're more to the sides so we can see them even when it's on its back
- Bugscope Team When we mount insects we usually mount the ventral side up so we can see the legs.
- 10:42am
- Student What are those clear things
- Student What state does it come from?
- Bugscope Team You can see some more slime, dried, here.
- Bugscope Team This came from NC.
- Bugscope Team randolph do you mean the legs?
- Bugscope Team This is one of the body segments that does not have any limbs attached to it.
- Student What are those tobe s sticking from its antenne
Bugscope Team the tube-like things you see at the top of the head there are actually the mandibular palps that it uses for maneuvering food
- Bugscope Team Now we are looking at legs,which resemble antennae.
- Bugscope Team Now we can see the antennae; the little tubes are probably chemoreceptors -- used for smelling, or tasting the air.
- Student What are the opening on theside?
- Student Why are its leegs formed like that.
Bugscope Team the insect's "skin" is actually a hard outer layer called the exoskeleton which they have instead of bones. To allow them to bend and flex they have multiple body segments joined together
- Student wa
- Bugscope Team If we see a true opening, on either side of a segment, it is probably a spiracle, which is a pore the insect uses to breathe through.
- Student Whats the sponge stuff?
- Bugscope Team Nice focussing, nice driving today.
- Bugscope Team This is a bubble of something oozing out of the mealworm.
- 10:48am
- Bugscope Team The things we see in the background are bubbles of another sort, in the carbon tape the insect is mounted upon.
- Student What are those spikes
Bugscope Team those are called setae... they are similar to hairs and can have many different purposes. Here they are probably mechanosensory like a cat's whiskers
- Bugscope Team We are not sure about the spikes, but they may be sensors that make the insect respond instantly to touch.
- Bugscope Team You can see that roaches and crickets sometimes have spikes like that.
- Bugscope Team They have a sort of trigger response that makes the insect jump.
- Bugscope Team ah, now this is an image of a claw
- Bugscope Team Alright -- this is the claw of the beetle form of the mealworm.
- Bugscope Team Oop not now...
- Teacher Now can we navigate the pupa stage?
- Bugscope Team Yes. In roaches there are a bunch of hairs coming out the back that react to air disturbance, for example if your had was coming towards it to squish it. The hairs directly control the legs to save time, instead of sending the message to the brain first
- Bugscope Team You are on the pupa now, at its tail end.
- Student Why is the pupu so white?
Bugscope Team All of the images from the electron microscope are in black and white. Color we see is due to the interaction of photons (light) and the sample. We're using electrons which don't have the same interaction as light, so we don't get any color information
- Student Why are the spikes fat?
- Bugscope Team It has versions of those same spikes.
- Bugscope Team The whole pupa is kind of fat, storing up food for its upcoming metamorphosis.
- 10:54am
- Bugscope Team It may be that the pupal stage is not intended to be exposed to the sun, so it does not have pigment in it.
- Student Why do pupas have a shield
Bugscope Team lots of pupa are unable to move so they have protective structures to guard it against it's environment.
- Bugscope Team Now we have driven back to the larva.
- Bugscope Team This has been chewed upon, looks like, or the larva has crawled out of it already.
- Teacher What are we seeing here?
- Bugscope Team these appear to be primitive limbs that allow the pupa to cling to something small
- Student Is it insect insex
Bugscope Team insects
- Teacher Does it move during the pupa stage?
Bugscope Team I've seen time-lapse images of pupa in a chrysalis as they metamorphose, slowly wriggling and moving around but I don't think they're typically very active
- Bugscope Team it is hard to tell just what these are, but it is nice to be able to see them. I was thinking the tooth-like parts, or jaw-like parts, are probably made for clinging onto something like a leaf of grass.
- Student What is the hole?
- Student What are these spikes for?
- Student how do they walk ?
- Bugscope Team It does move, but not too much; it responds to being touched.
- 10:59am
- Teacher What are the barbs for?
- Student How many eyes does it have?
Bugscope Team Pupa is a general name for a life-stage of many different types of insects so I'm sure the number of eyes can vary
- Bugscope Team we are not sure about some of these things -- I am sorry
- Bugscope Team we think the barbs either help it stick to its environment, or they respond automatically to touch
- Bugscope Team This now is the claw of the adult
- Bugscope Team Oh and the eyes? I think they have have two, but I am not sure.
- Student May I drive.
- Bugscope Team there is a preset that is a close-up view on a fly's eye
- Bugscope Team margie, can we control to celeste?
- Student were is the 3 main boty parts
- Bugscope Team we will give celeste control
- 11:04am
- Bugscope Team if that is alright
- Teacher okay
- Bugscope Team we can only have one person controlling the scope at one time, can we switch to celeste, okay i'm switching now
- Bugscope Team celeste has control now.
- Bugscope Team in the beetle -- the adult -- it is pretty easy to tell what is the head, and the thorax, and the abdomen.
- Bugscope Team But we are very close and need to go to a lower mag to see just where we are.
- Bugscope Team We'd have to zoom out to have any chance of seeing all three: head, thorax and abdomen at once
- Bugscope Team An eye!
- Student n
- Bugscope Team Oh nice, we can see a compound eye to the left there
- Student What is that thing sticking out of the claw?
- Bugscope Team You can see the facets -- the ommatidia -- that make up the compound eye.
- Bugscope Team nice job celeste, you are driving like a pro!
- Bugscope Team cool -- lower mag.
- Bugscope Team celeste, if you get lost you can also click on a preset to get a nice image back.
- Bugscope Team Unlike our eyes which have one lens, the compound eyes are made up of many different "facets", or ommatidia, each having its own lens
- Student what cined of insexs
- Student Please give control to Jack.
- Bugscope Team okay, giving control to jack, now
- Bugscope Team nack has control
- Bugscope Team jack, sorry!
- Bugscope Team this is a beetle, so it is coleoptera.
- Bugscope Team Now the thorax, to the right, in the middle now...
- Bugscope Team it has a little collar of fine setae
- Bugscope Team now you can see the jaws
- 11:10am
- Bugscope Team There is the antenna. above.
- Student Please give control to Johnthan
- Bugscope Team got it
- Bugscope Team jonathan has control of the scope-aruni
- Student May Marley drive?
- Bugscope Team marley has control now
- Bugscope Team And, beside that, the samples are coated with a thin layer of gold-palladium.
- Student w
- Bugscope Team w?
- Bugscope Team The palladium makes the alloy of gold and palladium look silvery if you saw the insects out of the microscope.
- Bugscope Team Can we show you what the inside of the vacuum chamber looks like?
- Student What are the bumps on the arms?
Bugscope Team You'll have to zoom in for us to be able to see better
- 11:15am
- Student Can beetals fly?
Bugscope Team Yes, many beetles can fly. Ladybugs are beetles and you frequently see them flying
- Student yes
- Bugscope Team The bumps are indentations, we think, that make the limb stronger.
- Student yes
- Student yes
- Student Yes
- Student yes
- Student yes
- Student yes
- Student yes
- Student Yes
- Student yes
- Student Yes
- Bugscope Team They can fly when they open the hard part of the shell they have, called the elytra.
- Bugscope Team The wings are under the elytra.
- Student aRE WE CLOSE ENOUGH?
Bugscope Team Yes. Scott said he thinks the bumps are there to strengthen the leg
- Bugscope Team See the bumps now?
- Bugscope Team We could go still closer and focus a little more.
- Bugscope Team The elytra always look like the hood of an old VW beetle to me. When a beetle is flying it's holding the elytra wide open to keep them out of the way of the wings
- Student May Randolph drive?
- Student can a beatl look like a cocroch?
Bugscope Team Many times they have similar appearance because they can both be brown or black with a shiny shell (the exoskeleton)
- Bugscope Team randolphio has controllio
- Bugscope Team yes a beetle can look like a cockroach
- Bugscope Team Cockroaches don't have the elytra covering their wings, however
- Student Do beetle have wings?
Bugscope Team yep!
Bugscope Team Yes, in fact their scientific name, coleoptera, means "Sheathed wing"
- Bugscope Team Yes they do but you cannot always see them.
- Student How many feet do beatels have?
Bugscope Team 6
- Student What is that
- Bugscope Team They are concealed beneath the shell-like covering on the back (dorsum).
- Student can a beatl have brown spoys
- Bugscope Team The shell-like covering is hard, and it is called the elytra.
- Student w
- 11:20am
- Student Please let Conner control
- Bugscope Team conner has control
- Bugscope Team brb
- Student why are some of the parts smooth and some hard?
Bugscope Team People have fingernails and tougher skin on the soles of their feet. Insects also have variations in their exoskeleton depending on function
- Bugscope Team some parts are both smooth and hard too, it all depends on its need in its environment
- Student yes
- Student Dose a beetal have ears?
Bugscope Team I believe Scott is right. They use their antennae to feel the vibration in the air
- Bugscope Team They don't have ears but they can feel sound.
- Bugscope Team Now we are looking right at the eye -- good driving!
- Student Is this a compound eye
- Bugscope Team yes it is Conner.
- Student May I drive, please?
- Bugscope Team many little facets called ommatidia
- Bugscope Team You're all set amanda
- 11:25am
- Student May I drive after Amanda
- Bugscope Team sure, just let us know when to switch
- Bugscope Team you bet
- Bugscope Team The complexity of the compound eye facets is indicative of how reliant the insect is on its eyes. Ants which spend most of their time underground have very few facets while flying insects have lots
- Student I know we are almost out of time- but may I drive?
Bugscope Team good to go
- Student are some betles poisnes
Bugscope Team some can excrete poisonous substances, but I don't believe any have fangs or stingers. it's mostly so that if something starts eating it, it will stop
- Student What are those bumps?
- Student How many hars do you think that beetls have?
- Bugscope Team Kaitlyn has control now.
- Bugscope Team kaitlyn asked first, kaitlyn are you ready to drive?
- Bugscope Team kaitlyn has control!
- Bugscope Team then merrick can take a turn
- Student :)
- Student w
- Bugscope Team Some beetles produce bad chemicals, and some taste bad.
- Bugscope Team Ladybugs taste bad.
- Bugscope Team Natashia beetles live for varying times, but often not more than a year in this climate.
- Bugscope Team shall we give merrick a turn to drive now?
- Student yes
- Bugscope Team ok. merrick you have control of the scope now
- Bugscope Team yeee hooooo!!!!
- Student can i drive?
Bugscope Team yes, after merrick
- 11:31am
- Student =
- Bugscope Team +
- Bugscope Team ethan, are you ready to drive?
- Student byebye
- Bugscope Team e than has control!
- Bugscope Team Bye! Thank you!
- Student byebye
- Bugscope Team Bye guys, glad to have you on today!
- Student byeb
- Student BYEBYE
- Student jack.
- Teacher Thank you so much!
- Teacher The kids are very excited.
- Bugscope Team you're welcome margie, good job!
- Bugscope Team You're welcome Margie!
- Teacher I will see you again next year :)
- Bugscope Team Great!
- Bugscope Team Sounds great, we look forward to it
- Teacher bye
- Bugscope Team Such good kids.
- Teacher They think you were great too- and bugs are awesome!
- 11:37am
- Bugscope Team we's be done-eronies
- Bugscope Team is everyone done, can i close it out?
- Bugscope Team i'm closing down now.
- 11:45am
- 11:52am
- 11:57am
- 12:05pm
- 12:12pm
- 12:18pm
- 12:23pm
