Connected on 2007-06-04 10:30:00
from Nags Head, North Carolina, USA
- 10:08 am
- Bugscope Teamwe are READY as coolie-o's!
- Bugscope Teamho margie!
- Bugscope Teamhi, i mean!
- TeacherI'm here without the students just getting a heads up
- Bugscope Teamcool.
- Bugscope Teamyou can practice driving if you want...
- Bugscope TeamHi Margie!
- Bugscope TeamHi Margie!
- TeacherWhat am i looking at now?
- Bugscope TeamI just had a couple of impromptu visitors; it happens a lot.
- Bugscope TeamI believe this is the larva
- Bugscope TeamThis is the head of the larval mealworm -- the long skinny form.
- TeacherAwesome!
- 10:15 am
- Bugscope TeamIs this working as you had expected this morning?
- Bugscope TeamLooks like you are moving around fine.
- TeacherYes, I just wanted a little practice going north sout east and west.
- Bugscope TeamWe 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 TeamCathy did all the prep today, and now she is training a couple of people on the TEM.
- Bugscope TeamSure, you bet.
- Bugscope TeamShe can log in as a teacher if you'd like.
- Bugscope Teamshe or he.
- Bugscope TeamYep, won't cause any problems. Use the same password but choose another name
- TeacherWith my password?
- Bugscope Teamyep
- Bugscope Teamyour name lowercase
- Bugscope Teamfirst name all lc
- Teacherokay, we're trying now
- Bugscope Teamwe might have to delete that from the chat log
- TeacherWhen we want to view the other specimens do I just tell you?
- Bugscope Teamokay Lora is here!
- Teachergreat
- Bugscope Teamno, you can click on a preset to see all the samples
- Bugscope TeamYou can select another preset from those on the right of chat here.
- Teachergot it
- Bugscope Teamno. 6 is the tail of the pupa; no. 5 is the mouth of the larva; etc.
- 10:20 am
- Teacherthanks
- Bugscope Teamwherever you see a little pool of silver paint you know there will be an insect/arthropod close by.
- Bugscope TeamSo 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 Teaminfo for free navigation of the stub -- for exploring
- Teacherokay
- Bugscope Teamwhenever you move away, like if you go exploring -- you can always get back by selecting a preset.
- Bugscope TeamHi Linda! Linda and Lora please feel free to ask questions.
- TeacherSo I would just click on the preset and I'll go there, right?
- Teacherthank you, what are we looking at?
- Bugscope Teamyep
- Bugscope Teamtry a preset
- 10:25 am
- TeacherWe're working on getting the children in the lab and on task now.
- Bugscope Teamyes if you were to drive off somewhere and then wanted to re-ground yourself you could just click on one of the presets.
- Bugscope Teamokay, no problemo
- Bugscope Teamah the fun part
- Bugscope Teamyou can see in the background here that the larva is lying on a dried pool of silver paint
- Teacherokay
- Bugscope TeamHi Jack!
- Bugscope TeamWelcome to bugscope!
- Bugscope TeamPlease let us know when you have questions for us.
- Bugscope TeamOop Jack went pale for a sec.
- TeacherWe're still getting everyone on the same page.
- Bugscope TeamOh now everyone is on, almost...
- Bugscope Teamhello students! wow, there's a bunch of ya
- Bugscope Teamplease ask us questions if you have any, and we will try to answer.
- 10:31 am
- Bugscope TeamWe are seriously outnumbered.
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of the larval form of the mealworm.
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that it has all those mouthparts and also little rudimentary antennae.
- StudentWhat is the opening in the middle?
- Bugscope Teamat 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 Teamthat is the entrance to the mouth, conner.
- Bugscope TeamIn the middle at the top of the image is the mouth
- Bugscope TeamYou can see that the jaws close at about that place.
- Bugscope TeamThe jaws are hard to see but have sharp points, especially now you can see the one on the right.
- Bugscope TeamYou can see the tiny hairs, which are called setae (see-tee).
- StudentWhat are the hair things?
- StudentWhat are the black spots?
- Bugscope TeamThose hairs are sensory -- they are probably mechanosensors.
- Bugscope TeamMeaning that they feel motion and transmit that feeling to the brain.
- 10:37 am
- Bugscope TeamThe black spots look sort of like holes in the cuticle from here. You might zoom in on them to see better
- Bugscope TeamThe black spots are places where there is some mucus that has dried onto that space and left an opening.
- Bugscope Teamin other words, those blacks spots are holes in the bug
- Bugscope TeamSee the micron bar? 1000 microns = 1 millimeter.
- Bugscope Teamso 311 um is 0.311 mm.
- Bugscope Teamum = micron
- Studentj
- StudentWere are his eye
- StudentWhere did the mucus come from?
- Bugscope Teamμm us what we should have used for micron in the text.
- Bugscope TeamThey might be hidden from view right now, because the bug is on its back
- Bugscope Teamthe mucus is just slime that probably came out of the mealworm -- we really don't know where it came from.
- Bugscope TeamWe should be able to see them on other bugs though
- Bugscope Teamμm is, I should have said
- Bugscope TeamYeah, 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 TeamWhen we mount insects we usually mount the ventral side up so we can see the legs.
- 10:42 am
- StudentWhat are those clear things
- StudentWhat state does it come from?
- Bugscope TeamYou can see some more slime, dried, here.
- Bugscope TeamThis came from NC.
- Bugscope Teamrandolph do you mean the legs?
- Bugscope TeamThis is one of the body segments that does not have any limbs attached to it.
- StudentWhat are those tobe s sticking from its antenne
Bugscope Teamthe tube-like things you see at the top of the head there are actually the mandibular palps that it uses for maneuvering food
- Bugscope TeamNow we are looking at legs,which resemble antennae.
- Bugscope TeamNow we can see the antennae; the little tubes are probably chemoreceptors -- used for smelling, or tasting the air.
- StudentWhat are the opening on theside?
- StudentWhy are its leegs formed like that.
Bugscope Teamthe 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
- Studentwa
- Bugscope TeamIf 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.
- StudentWhats the sponge stuff?
- Bugscope TeamNice focussing, nice driving today.
- Bugscope TeamThis is a bubble of something oozing out of the mealworm.
- 10:48 am
- Bugscope TeamThe things we see in the background are bubbles of another sort, in the carbon tape the insect is mounted upon.
- StudentWhat are those spikes
Bugscope Teamthose 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 TeamWe are not sure about the spikes, but they may be sensors that make the insect respond instantly to touch.
- Bugscope TeamYou can see that roaches and crickets sometimes have spikes like that.
- Bugscope TeamThey have a sort of trigger response that makes the insect jump.
- Bugscope Teamah, now this is an image of a claw
- Bugscope TeamAlright -- this is the claw of the beetle form of the mealworm.
- Bugscope TeamOop not now...
- TeacherNow can we navigate the pupa stage?
- Bugscope TeamYes. 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 TeamYou are on the pupa now, at its tail end.
- StudentWhy is the pupu so white?
Bugscope TeamAll 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
- StudentWhy are the spikes fat?
- Bugscope TeamIt has versions of those same spikes.
- Bugscope TeamThe whole pupa is kind of fat, storing up food for its upcoming metamorphosis.
- 10:54 am
- Bugscope TeamIt may be that the pupal stage is not intended to be exposed to the sun, so it does not have pigment in it.
- StudentWhy do pupas have a shield
Bugscope Teamlots of pupa are unable to move so they have protective structures to guard it against it's environment.
- Bugscope TeamNow we have driven back to the larva.
- Bugscope TeamThis has been chewed upon, looks like, or the larva has crawled out of it already.
- TeacherWhat are we seeing here?
- Bugscope Teamthese appear to be primitive limbs that allow the pupa to cling to something small
- StudentIs it insect insex
Bugscope Teaminsects
- TeacherDoes it move during the pupa stage?
Bugscope TeamI'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 Teamit 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.
- StudentWhat is the hole?
- StudentWhat are these spikes for?
- Studenthow do they walk ?
- Bugscope TeamIt does move, but not too much; it responds to being touched.
- 10:59 am
- TeacherWhat are the barbs for?
- StudentHow many eyes does it have?
Bugscope TeamPupa 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 Teamwe are not sure about some of these things -- I am sorry
- Bugscope Teamwe think the barbs either help it stick to its environment, or they respond automatically to touch
- Bugscope TeamThis now is the claw of the adult
- Bugscope TeamOh and the eyes? I think they have have two, but I am not sure.
- StudentMay I drive.
- Bugscope Teamthere is a preset that is a close-up view on a fly's eye
- Bugscope Teammargie, can we control to celeste?
- Studentwere is the 3 main boty parts
- Bugscope Teamwe will give celeste control
- 11:04 am
- Bugscope Teamif that is alright
- Teacherokay
- Bugscope Teamwe can only have one person controlling the scope at one time, can we switch to celeste, okay i'm switching now
- Bugscope Teamceleste has control now.
- Bugscope Teamin the beetle -- the adult -- it is pretty easy to tell what is the head, and the thorax, and the abdomen.
- Bugscope TeamBut we are very close and need to go to a lower mag to see just where we are.
- Bugscope TeamWe'd have to zoom out to have any chance of seeing all three: head, thorax and abdomen at once
- Bugscope TeamAn eye!
- Studentn
- Bugscope TeamOh nice, we can see a compound eye to the left there
- StudentWhat is that thing sticking out of the claw?
- Bugscope TeamYou can see the facets -- the ommatidia -- that make up the compound eye.
- Bugscope Teamnice job celeste, you are driving like a pro!
- Bugscope Teamcool -- lower mag.
- Bugscope Teamceleste, if you get lost you can also click on a preset to get a nice image back.
- Bugscope TeamUnlike our eyes which have one lens, the compound eyes are made up of many different "facets", or ommatidia, each having its own lens
- Studentwhat cined of insexs
- StudentPlease give control to Jack.
- Bugscope Teamokay, giving control to jack, now
- Bugscope Teamnack has control
- Bugscope Teamjack, sorry!
- Bugscope Teamthis is a beetle, so it is coleoptera.
- Bugscope TeamNow the thorax, to the right, in the middle now...
- Bugscope Teamit has a little collar of fine setae
- Bugscope Teamnow you can see the jaws
- 11:10 am
- Bugscope TeamThere is the antenna. above.
- StudentPlease give control to Johnthan
- Bugscope Teamgot it
- Bugscope Teamjonathan has control of the scope-aruni
- Student May Marley drive?
- Bugscope Teammarley has control now
- Bugscope TeamAnd, beside that, the samples are coated with a thin layer of gold-palladium.
- Studentw
- Bugscope Teamw?
- Bugscope TeamThe palladium makes the alloy of gold and palladium look silvery if you saw the insects out of the microscope.
- Bugscope TeamCan we show you what the inside of the vacuum chamber looks like?
- StudentWhat are the bumps on the arms?
Bugscope TeamYou'll have to zoom in for us to be able to see better
- 11:15 am
- StudentCan beetals fly?
Bugscope TeamYes, many beetles can fly. Ladybugs are beetles and you frequently see them flying
- Student yes
- Bugscope TeamThe bumps are indentations, we think, that make the limb stronger.
- Studentyes
- Student yes
- StudentYes
- Studentyes
- Studentyes
- Studentyes
- Studentyes
- StudentYes
- Studentyes
- StudentYes
- Bugscope TeamThey can fly when they open the hard part of the shell they have, called the elytra.
- Bugscope TeamThe wings are under the elytra.
- StudentaRE WE CLOSE ENOUGH?
Bugscope TeamYes. Scott said he thinks the bumps are there to strengthen the leg
- Bugscope TeamSee the bumps now?
- Bugscope TeamWe could go still closer and focus a little more.
- Bugscope TeamThe 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
- StudentMay Randolph drive?
- Studentcan a beatl look like a cocroch?
Bugscope TeamMany times they have similar appearance because they can both be brown or black with a shiny shell (the exoskeleton)
- Bugscope Teamrandolphio has controllio
- Bugscope Teamyes a beetle can look like a cockroach
- Bugscope TeamCockroaches don't have the elytra covering their wings, however
- StudentDo beetle have wings?
Bugscope Teamyep!
Bugscope TeamYes, in fact their scientific name, coleoptera, means "Sheathed wing"
- Bugscope TeamYes they do but you cannot always see them.
- Student How many feet do beatels have?
Bugscope Team6
- StudentWhat is that
- Bugscope TeamThey are concealed beneath the shell-like covering on the back (dorsum).
- Studentcan a beatl have brown spoys
- Bugscope TeamThe shell-like covering is hard, and it is called the elytra.
- Studentw
- 11:20 am
- StudentPlease let Conner control
- Bugscope Teamconner has control
- Bugscope Teambrb
- Studentwhy are some of the parts smooth and some hard?
Bugscope TeamPeople have fingernails and tougher skin on the soles of their feet. Insects also have variations in their exoskeleton depending on function
- Bugscope Teamsome parts are both smooth and hard too, it all depends on its need in its environment
- Studentyes
- StudentDose a beetal have ears?
Bugscope TeamI believe Scott is right. They use their antennae to feel the vibration in the air
- Bugscope TeamThey don't have ears but they can feel sound.
- Bugscope TeamNow we are looking right at the eye -- good driving!
- StudentIs this a compound eye
- Bugscope Teamyes it is Conner.
- StudentMay I drive, please?
- Bugscope Teammany little facets called ommatidia
- Bugscope TeamYou're all set amanda
- 11:25 am
- StudentMay I drive after Amanda
- Bugscope Teamsure, just let us know when to switch
- Bugscope Teamyou bet
- Bugscope TeamThe 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
- StudentI know we are almost out of time- but may I drive?
Bugscope Teamgood to go
- Studentare some betles poisnes
Bugscope Teamsome 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
- StudentWhat are those bumps?
- StudentHow many hars do you think that beetls have?
- Bugscope TeamKaitlyn has control now.
- Bugscope Teamkaitlyn asked first, kaitlyn are you ready to drive?
- Bugscope Teamkaitlyn has control!
- Bugscope Teamthen merrick can take a turn
- Student:)
- Studentw
- Bugscope TeamSome beetles produce bad chemicals, and some taste bad.
- Bugscope TeamLadybugs taste bad.
- Bugscope TeamNatashia beetles live for varying times, but often not more than a year in this climate.
- Bugscope Teamshall we give merrick a turn to drive now?
- Studentyes
- Bugscope Teamok. merrick you have control of the scope now
- Bugscope Teamyeee hooooo!!!!
- Studentcan i drive?
Bugscope Teamyes, after merrick
- 11:31 am
- Student=
- Bugscope Team+
- Bugscope Teamethan, are you ready to drive?
- Studentbyebye
- Bugscope Teame than has control!
- Bugscope TeamBye! Thank you!
- Studentbyebye
- Bugscope TeamBye guys, glad to have you on today!
- Student byeb
- StudentBYEBYE
- Studentjack.
- TeacherThank you so much!
- TeacherThe kids are very excited.
- Bugscope Teamyou're welcome margie, good job!
- Bugscope TeamYou're welcome Margie!
- TeacherI will see you again next year :)
- Bugscope TeamGreat!
- Bugscope TeamSounds great, we look forward to it
- Teacherbye
- Bugscope TeamSuch good kids.
- TeacherThey think you were great too- and bugs are awesome!
- 11:37 am
- Bugscope Teamwe's be done-eronies
- Bugscope Teamis everyone done, can i close it out?
- Bugscope Teami'm closing down now.
- 11:45 am
- 11:52 am
- 11:57 am
- 12:05 pm
- 12:12 pm
- 12:18 pm
- 12:23 pm
