Yarmouth Elementary School
Session 2007-035

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Transcript

Connected on 2007-10-18 13:00:00 from Yarmouth, Maine, USA

• 12:28 pm
• Bugscope Teammilkweed bug i caught on my screen door
• Bugscope TeamHello Karin!
• Bugscope TeamWelcome to Bugscope!
• TeacherThanks, Cate. We are just waiting for our technology coordinator to come and help us out.

• Bugscope TeamCool. We are getting a few more presets done.
• TeacherDo you need me to do anything right now?
• 12:33 pm
• Bugscope TeamNO
• Bugscope TeamOops.
• Bugscope TeamThat was emphatic.
• Bugscope TeamNo we are fine and it looks like if things are working for you now you are in great shape.
• Bugscope TeamCan you see both the chat window and the presets, to the right, as well as the image on the screen?

• 12:38 pm

• 12:43 pm

• TeacherHi, it's Cathy, are you OK to start early?
• Bugscope Teami think we are ready for ya. hi cathy!
• Bugscope TeamYou bet we are ready.
• TeacherHi again!
• Bugscope Teamsession is unlocked, go ahead and take control. welcome to bugscope!

• Bugscope Teamthe wing edge has these spines on it that look like they could cut Saran Wrap or aluminum foil

• Bugscope TeamCathy/Karin let us know if you have any questions.
• Bugscope Teammissing a few limbs
• Bugscope Teampoor girl
• Bugscope Teamyes, one of the limbs is broken off near the socket. it's the right limbs. cool!
• TeacherJulia wants to know if the fly wings cover the back of the fly on the side we can't see?
  Bugscope Teamyes, the wings are on the underside of the fly which we can't see. insects are usually more interesting on their underside, that's why we put them on their backs.
• Bugscope Teamdo we havde any fly crutches?
• 12:49 pm

• TeacherWhy are is the fly so hairy?
  Bugscope Teammost insects are VERY hairy. those hairs are called setae, and they help the insect to sense their enviroment:: finding food, not hitting a big wall when flying, etc.
• TeacherDo you know how many hairs it has?
• TeacherHow do the hairs grow? It even has hairs on its wings.
• Bugscope Teamflies aren't the only ones that are full of "hair" (which BTW on insects we call setae)
• Bugscope Teama lot of insects are often hairier than they seem at first
• Bugscope TeamSome of the hairs (setae) are mechanosensory, some are chemosensory, and some are probably there to give the wing and body more surface area to catch the air when it flies.
• Bugscope TeamSo they have, as Alex says, setae that function like nerve endings do for us.
• TeacherHow sharp are the spiny bumps?
  Bugscope TeamThey are not sharp to our fingers...you might not even be able to tell they are spiny
• Bugscope TeamThis is because they cannot sense their environment through the chitin -- the exoskeleton -- like we sense our environment using our skin.
• Bugscope Teamyou can take the mag up and see
• Bugscope Teami hope i answered that right
• Bugscope Teamsharpness, when the STM guys assess it, has to do with the radius of curvature at the tip of the object
• Bugscope Teamannie is being modest. she is an expert on insects...
• Bugscope Teamreally?! That is interesting
• Bugscope Teamif they were too sharp they might break, as we will see with the yellowjacket stinger

• Bugscope Teambing!
• 12:54 pm
• Bugscope Teami suposed this was too sharp then. very cool.
• TeacherWas the stinger bent when it stung someone or was it always that way?
• Bugscope Teamthis probably happened after the insect died
• TeacherHow many eggs can a wasp lay?
  Bugscope TeamAs usual, my answer starts with: it depends. There are thousands of species of wasps in the world. Yellowjackets hornet and paper wasps make up only a small small part of the total wasp species in the world. Yellowjackets and hornets are in the same family, and a gyne (which is different than a queen, because there can be more than one) can probably lay several hundred eggs in a season. Paper wasps gynes usually lay less. It is a pretty complicated subject...as you can tell.
• Bugscope Teamit looks like the tip of the stinger broke

• Bugscope Teamif you look at it close up oyu can see that it does not remain planted in you -- this yellowjacket can sting repeatedly.

• Bugscope Teamthats why wasps are much worse than bees sometimes
• Bugscope Teamif it was to remain planted in you it might have recurved spines to keep it from pulling out easily, sort of like the radula, or whatever it is called, on the tick
• Bugscope Teamassuming you arent deathly allergic to a bee sting that is
• TeacherWhy is it so sharp?
• Bugscope Teama queen wasp can mate with a male wasp, and keep the sperm in a dormant state for months. when spring arrives, the sperm will then be released and the firtilization can begin.
• TeacherHow long did you need to go to school to be an entomologist?
  Bugscope TeamI went to undergraduate school for four years and graduated with a biology degree. It took me two years after that to get my masters and I am still working on my PhD. I hope to be finished in another year and a half or so.
• Bugscope TeamI think sharpness is for the ability to penetrate and deliver the toxin, and it must be balanced against making it too easy to fracture.
• 12:59 pm
• Bugscope TeamSome wasps are parasitic, and they sting and deliver eggs into their eggs' future host.
  Bugscope Teambut hosts that usually harmful for a garden or something, not a human
• TeacherHow long can bumblebees live if they don't sting anybody?
  Bugscope TeamMost bumblebees will only live one season: from the late spring until the fall. Future queens will overwinter as adults and will live for about a year.
• Bugscope TeamIt seems like most of those wasps are very small
  Bugscope TeamThere are some large parasitoid wasps...such as ichneumonids in the genus Megarhyssa and Rhyssa
• Bugscope TeamI kind of remember annie talking about that once
• TeacherIF a bumblebee or a wasp or yellow jacket is dead and you touch its stinger can it still harm you?
  Bugscope TeamI guess technically it could...but it seems really unlikely. If it is a bee stinger with a barb, it could get stuck in your finger, but it won't be able to inject venom into your skin, so it wouldn't hurt very much.
• Bugscope Teamyes Cate is right. Humans are not normally hosts for baby wasps.
• Bugscope Teammaybe if it was fresh dead and pushed it in, but I think they ordinarily have to pump the poison in.

• Bugscope TeamI suppose you could accidentally sting yourself, I don't know if you would get the venom though

• TeacherWelearned that dragonfly eyes have about 30,000 facets, would that be true of this one?
• Bugscope Teamyou can still focus this a little
• Bugscope Teamif you want
• Bugscope Teamthis is a very small dragonfly

• 1:04 pm
• TeacherSo, would it have fewer facets?
• TeacherWhat are all those little "dirt" things on the screen
• Bugscope Teamif the facets (ommatidia) are smaller with a smaller head, I guess it could have 30,000

• Bugscope Teamwe would have to compare the sizes of ommatidia to get a better idea
• Bugscope Teamsome of the dirt really is dirt

• Bugscope Teamin some cases we will see things that are in the dirt, like diatoms

• Bugscope Teamor brochosomes

• Bugscope Teambrochosomes are tiny (few hundred nanometers in diameter, usually) wax-like particles that look like tiny soccer balls
• TeacherAre dragonflies able to clean their lenses like we can with our eyelids?
  Bugscope Teamthey can use their legs to clean their eyes.
• Bugscope Teamgood work controlling the scope cathy, very nice pan-out there...
• TeacherDo dragonflies blnik?
• Bugscope Teamthey do not have eyelids

• Bugscope Teamit has a tiny claw, sort of like a T rex

• TeacherDo dragonflies sleep?
  Bugscope TeamThey are only active during the day. When the sun goes down, they find a perch to stay the night. Insects do have circadian rhythms, and their genes tell us that they do "sleep", but we don't yet understand what "sleep" it to them.
• Bugscope Teamthis claw has dirt on it and I think part of a diatom

• 1:09 pm
• TeacherAre the spikes on the legs setae?

• Bugscope TeamI think they could be called sensory setae -- mechanosensory setae.
• Bugscope TeamIt doesn't involved warm milk and PJs though

• Bugscope Teamwhen you look at a cross section of the head of one of these big-eyed insects you can see that much of the brain is given over to processing visual data

• TeacherWHat are the holes we see to the left of the dragonfly eye?
  Bugscope Teamthat is the carbon tape we use to stick the little critters to
• Bugscope TeamThose are bubbles in the carbon tape we stick the insects to.
• TeacherThe legs look like they have little sharp claws on them like a crab.
• Bugscope Teamyou will also see smoother areas where Cate, who made today's sample, put silver paint down to help get the critters to stick and to form a conductive pathway for the electrons to shed to ground.
• TeacherWhy are the eyes on the side of the head?
  Bugscope TeamThe position of the eyes helps the dragonfly to see in nearly all directions around it. This good sense of vision helps them to catch prey and to avoid predators.
• 1:15 pm
• TeacherHow old can a dragonfly live to be?
  Bugscope Teamlarger dragonflies can live up to four months
• Bugscope Teamthe dragonfly can see very well to the side, front and back. they are very good at manuevering in the air

• Bugscope TeamReally it can see well in almost any direction.
• Bugscope Teammaneuvering sp.
• TeacherHow far away can a dragonfly see? We have a a few ideas that it's 30 feet, but we're not sure.
• Bugscope Teamgood question : )
• TeacherIf dragonflies can smell, where exactly on their bodies do they smell?
  Bugscope TeamI am not sure if anyone has determined if dragonflies respond to any airbourne scents. If they could smell, they would do so with specially modified setae

• Bugscope Teamand those setae could be anywhere

• 1:20 pm
• TeacherWe're having trouble getting to 9- milkweed bug torso
• Bugscope TeamI found a reference for spiders being able to see dragonflies at 3 m, but it is hard to tell how soon the dragonfly saw the spider

• Bugscope Teamwell the no. 8 preset worked but we had trouble with no 9 as well
• TeacherIt looks like it has lines sort of like a straw with lines or gray celery. Is that true?
  Bugscope Teamsuperficially it does resemble celery, but it is more like a straw. The inside of the setae are hollow (usually)
• Bugscope Teamyou might try preset 9 again. the dragonfly preset was very close to the edge, and maybe that caused the problem with preset 9.

• TeacherWhat are we looking at? It looks like a brain.
• Bugscope Teamfrass
• Bugscope Teamdecrease the magnification a bit and you will get a better look at the specimen
• TeacherWhat's that??

• Bugscope Teamnot sure; at first it looked like a pollen grain

• Bugscope Teamthis is cool

• Bugscope Teamit's a foot!
• 1:25 pm
• Bugscope Teamfrass is bug poop, which that was not, probably
• Bugscope Teamthose look like detached eyeballs under the claw...
• TeacherAre there suctions cups on the left side?
  Bugscope TeamSort of like suction cups...they do help the insect to stick to surfaces
• TeacherWhat object could you compare its size to?
• Bugscope Teamthis is the foot of a milkweed bug
• Bugscope Teamlooks like the span of the claw is about 0.2 mm
• TeacherHow many tarsals does one foot have?
  Bugscope TeamThe number of tarsi on a leg varied between insect families and can vary within a single beetle. Some insects have three tarsi on one set of legs and four on the other sets of legs. It look slike this guy has maybe 3 or 4 tarsal segments
• TeacherAre all of you in the same laboratory right now?
  Bugscope Teamno, all of us are in seperate rooms. annie is in another building.
• Bugscope TeamSome of us are close enough to be able to yell at each other. Alex is next to the microscope.
• 1:30 pm
• Bugscope Teamnot that we ever yell at each other.... :)

• Bugscope Teamgood job!
• Bugscope Teamyou guys would have to yell pretty loud for me to hear you!
• Bugscope TeamWe could not do that before.
• Bugscope Teamconsidering you are half a mile away and underground
• Bugscope TeamAnnie prefers to telecommute.
• Bugscope Teamcool, preset 9 works now. not sure what the problem was, a bug in the scope i believe...
• Bugscope TeamWe are looking at the head of the milkweed bug
• Bugscope Teamthat way she can get other work done
• TeacherIt looks like an elephant. Does it have facets in its eyes, just like dragonflies?
• Bugscope Teamso lovely
• Bugscope Teamyou can go check

• Bugscope Teamyou can see its pointy mouth. All of the members of the family of which the milkweed bus is a member have sucking mouthparts
• Bugscope Teamocelli?
• Bugscope Teamyeah! thanks annie
• TeacherWhat are the markings on the eyes?
  Bugscope TeamThe little marks look like dirt to me
• Bugscope Teamyeah ocelli are the simple eyes.
• Bugscope Teammilkweed BUG!

• Bugscope Teamai yai yai, I am having some typing problems today.
• Bugscope Teamwe could go look at the marks as well -- they look like some kind of juju on the surface

• Bugscope Teamyeah juju
• Bugscope Teamexcellent focus there cathy!
• TeacherDo these milkweed bugs eat milkweed?
  Bugscope TeamMilkweed bugs suck juices out of milkweed plants. Milkweed plants are toxic and the milkweed bugs have developed an ability to detoxify the poisons. In fact, the milkweed bugs store the poison they get from their food in their bodies....which makes THEM toxic (or at least foul tasting) to predators
• 1:35 pm
• Bugscope Teamhard to tell what that is
• TeacherCan they feel what's on their eyes?
• Bugscope Teamyou can see there are a couple of small setae on the eye that are probably sensory
• Bugscope Teamfruit flies have lots of sensory setae at the junctions of the ommatidia
• Bugscope Teamso if that obstruction touched the setae, then it'd know it was there. and it would be able to see the obstruction. but not feel it, i think.
• TeacherWere we looking at its rostrum before? One student learned about this while studying a stink bug.
  Bugscope Teamyes, exactly!
• Bugscope Teamanyway the setae we see are like to be mechanosensors

• Bugscope TeamI think that could also be termed a rostrum; I am not sure

• Bugscope Teamnear the top

• TeacherIt seems stuck.
• Bugscope Teamwhat we see is the claw in front of the body, where those little pollen grains are
• Bugscope Teamokay, i moved the scope a bit, try again.
• TeacherWe know that we started earlier with you all, so we're thinking about 3 more minutes.
• 1:40 pm
• Bugscope Teamis it better now?
• Bugscope TeamWe are really fine to 2 here, all up to you.

• Bugscope Teamcathy, are you able to... yes, cool. scope works.
• TeacherThe image isn't chaning

• TeacherYAy!
• Bugscope Team:)

• Bugscope Teamyay!

• Bugscope Teamocelli
• Bugscope Teamocelli at 12 o'clock!

• Bugscope Teamnow you can see the simple eyes on top of the head

• Bugscope Teamand the compound eyes

• Bugscope Teamand the mandibles

• Bugscope Teamthose are pretty bodacious mandibles
• Teacherwe're confused. Does this have a simple eye anc compound eyes?
  Bugscope TeamYes, many insects have both simple AND compound eyes.
• Bugscope Teamyes both; it has like five eyes

• Bugscope Teamyep! go north a bit, then you'll see the simple eye's (ocelli) near the top of it's head, inbetween the compund eyes

• Bugscope Teamthe simple eyes help it judge distances, keep oriented up and down

• 1:45 pm
• Bugscope Teamyeah that is a fearsome mandible

• TeacherOur last one is to look a this dragonfly wing
• Bugscope Teamoh that is cool

• Bugscope Teamit looks like rice paper

• TeacherCan the wing be damaged easily?
  Bugscope TeamThey are surprisingly strong, however they can get ripped or tear...especially if a bird tries to take a bite out of them

• Bugscope Teamthey are pretty tough, but you can see lots of scratches

• Bugscope TeamNo, you are right Scott...they are veins!
• Bugscope Teamdragonflies have four wings and are evolutionarily pretty old
• TeacherDo you know how long there have been dragonflies on the earth?
• Bugscope TeamThey can't fold their wings over their backs
• Bugscope Teamso they pump fluids through them -- do they have hemolymph?
• TeacherIt looks like the ribs are in two pieces.
• Bugscope Teamthey have existed since prehistoric times, not sure which era they first popped up tho
• Bugscope Teamabout 380 million years (we think). Have to check!
• TeacherWhat are the bumpy things on the ribs?
• Bugscope Teamvery close annie, wikipedia says the oldest known dragonfly species is 320 million years old!
• Bugscope TeamI would like to find a dinosaur tick.
• Bugscope Teamwoo hoo!
• 1:50 pm
• Bugscope TeamAnnie on one side, Wikipedia on the other. She could win out.
• TeacherWhat was the largest dragonfly ever found?
  Bugscope TeamThe ancient griffenfly (which is not a TRUE dragonfly) is thought to have had a wingspan of 28 inches!
• TeacherWhat is the most interesting insect specimen you have ever see?
• Bugscope Teamnope...I checked my book...the first true dragoflies are thought to have evolved about 250 million years ago. Precursors to modern dragonflies first appear in the fossil record about 350 million years ago
• Bugscope Teamwhat I like, generally, still, is earwigs, which often have mites, but the mites are not insects
• TeacherTHANK YOU!! If you could hear us, we'd say thank you as loud as we could. We're going to keep sketching and learning about insects.
• Bugscope Teamhttp://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/uniramia/odonatoida.html
• Bugscope Teamgreat job! it was a pleaseure doing bugscope with you!
• TeacherWe appreciate all of your help and knowledge.
• Bugscope TeamThank you all for the questions! I liked looking up that info on the giant "dragonfly"
• 1:56 pm
• TeacherAre you able to add our project title? Insects: More Than Meets the Eye.
• Bugscope Teamdo you mean add that title to your member page?
• Bugscope Teamack!
• Bugscope Teami'll email karin about the project title, i think we can do that no problem.
• Bugscope Teamhello Mark!
• Bugscope Teambye everyone!!!!
• Bugscope Teamcya annie
• Bugscope TeamBye Annie. Thank you!
• Bugscope Teammark is done gone
• 2:01 pm
• Bugscope Teamshall i close the session, mark just left.
• Bugscope Teamgone Daddy gone
• Bugscope Teamclosing the session now
• Bugscope Teamleaving session active for now
• Bugscope Teamsomeone may join us.
• Bugscope Teamnevermind. closing session.
• Bugscope Teamsession closed