Sacajawea Middle School
Session 2007-046

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Transcript

Connected on 2007-09-28 10:00:00 from Bozeman, MT, US

• 9:44 am
• Bugscope TeamHi LeAnne!
• Bugscope Teamhi leanne!
• Bugscope Teamwelcome to bugscope
• Bugscope Teamhello!
• TeacherHi~ I'm Nadeen - technical help - Leanne and students aren't quite here yet
• Bugscope Teamno problemo.
• Bugscope TeamGreat, let us know if you have any questions about setting up

• Bugscope TeamHi Nadeen!
• Bugscope TeamPlease go ahead and try using the controls to the right of the image to make sure everything is working
• Bugscope TeamNadeen we did not get samples, apparently, so we made our own sample for today.
• Bugscope Teamyes, leanne did email a week ago saying she probably wouldn't be able to send us samples.
• Bugscope TeamOh Okay.
• 9:49 am

• Bugscope TeamYeah it slipped over -- the worm is still moving around a bit.
• Bugscope Teamhi buggy!
• Bugscope Teamwelcome to bugscope!
• Bugscope TeamHi Buggy.
• TeacherGood morning, Bob here, just getting it all setup in the room.. so far so good
• Bugscope TeamPlease let us know when you have questions about anything.
• Teacherwill do
• Bugscope TeamHi Bob.
• TeacherI will log out and let the students log in with their own nickname. . catch in a bit
• 9:54 am
• Bugscope TeamIf you want control of the microscope we can give it to you. Presently LeAnne (Nadeen) has the ability to drive.
• Bugscope Teamcoolness
• Bugscope TeamI would hope not, it might lay eggs in you
• Bugscope Teamnow there's just one
• 10:01 am
• Bugscope Teamhow is everything going leanne and bob? any questions?

• Bugscope TeamThis is interesting here because you can see air pockets in the plaque. Sort of like what you might expect with a biofilm
• Bugscope TeamMT
• Bugscope TeamThis is the mouth of a beetle.
• Bugscope Teamlots of bacteria and brochosomes
• TeacherHi~ It's Nadeen - they are't here yet - but they should be coming very soon
• Bugscope TeamGood deal.
• Bugscope Teamok
• Bugscope Teamok great

• Bugscope Teampercolation in the beetle mouth
• 10:06 am
• TeacherLeAnne is here and students will arrive momentarily. Can I try driving really quick?
• Bugscope Teamgo right ahead!
• Bugscope TeamYou bet!
• Bugscope Teamit's all yours!

• Bugscope Teamcool, a mag, and a click to center, good work so far

• Bugscope TeamAwesome driving.

• Bugscope Teamyeah, you aren't messing around. this is cool.

• TeacherWow - so cool! What I am looking at? Beetle?
• Bugscope TeamSensilla on the side of the maxillary palp.
• Bugscope TeamThis is a beetle, on its back.
• Bugscope TeamYou can see the eyes, streamlined, and the antennae, and the mouth
• Bugscope TeamThe background is doublestick carbon tape.
• Bugscope Teambugscope, the rpg
• TeacherOk - kids are just arriving...so questions are about to begin.
• Bugscope Teamoops
• Bugscope Teamgreat!

• Bugscope Teamhi students, welcome to bugscope!
• Bugscope Teamsecondary ion mass spectroscopy
• StudentHi Alex!
• Bugscope Teama non sequitur

• Bugscope Teamlet us know when you have questions about what you are seeing
• Teacherwhat kind of beetle?
• 10:11 am
• Bugscope Teamwell it's a small beetle -- I don

• Bugscope Teamt think we know what it is

• Bugscope Teamas far as I know, it's just a small beetle
• StudentHow small is it?
  Bugscope Teamthe scale bar in the lower-left corner of the image shows you approximate size (like the legend of a map). "um" is microns, or millionths of a meter. when you're zoomed out you can roughly judge how wide the insect would be across
• Bugscope TeamCate did this come from ethanol?

• Bugscope TeamI think it's 7 or 8 mm long, maybe a little longer
• Bugscope Teamyes

• Bugscope Teamhere you can see the jaws, and the maxillary palp

• Bugscope Teammandibular and maxillary palps

• Bugscope Teamalthough that does not always work with insects -- upper and lower jaws
• Bugscope Teamwe are using electrons to image, so we cannot see color

• Bugscope Teamwe can artificially color it, but we don't have the software to do that
  Bugscope Teamhere is one of our web pages showing how we colorize the ESEM images: http://bugscope.itg.uiuc.edu/diversions/gallery.htm
• Bugscope Teamthe electron beam is about 2 nm in diameter now
• Teacherwhat are the hair like structures?
  Bugscope Teamthose are called setae
• Bugscope Teamand the wavelengths of color are 400 to 700 nm

• Bugscope TeamThe hairlike structures are setae.
• Bugscope Teamsome of the seta are mechanosensory, and some are chemosensory
• Bugscope Teamsetae help the insect sense the environment around them
• Teacherhow long have each scientist been working with bugcope/insects?
  Bugscope TeamScott and I have been running Bugscope sessions since early 1998. Cate and Alex joined us a few years ago.
• Teacherhow is the beetle's site?
• Bugscope Teambugs have a hard shell so they have these "hair-like" setae to help them 'feel'
• 10:16 am
• Teachersight?
• Bugscope Teambecause insects do not have skin -- they have an exoskeleton -- they need to have many setae sticking through the chitin so they can sense their environment

• Bugscope Teamthis beetle can likely see in color

• Bugscope Teamit may not have the ability to see in the UV
• Bugscope TeamI have only been with bugscope a couple years

• Bugscope Teamwe have been running bugscope for over 8 years now

• Teacherwhat are we looking at?
• Bugscope TeamChas started when he was a sophomore in high school. We drafted him as cheap labor.

• Bugscope Teamthis is part of the underside of the beetle
• Bugscope Teamhard to tell just where we are

• StudentWhat are the small white dots everywhere?

• Bugscope Teamsome of the spines are used by the beetle to feel whether it is bent too far or not

• Bugscope Teamstudent2, can you point out the dots when you see them again? I missed it

• Studenthow do you examine the inside of the beetle
  Bugscope Teamexamining the inside of the beetle isn't easily done with the electron microscope because it doesn't see through things, but another thing we do is X-Ray computed tomography (CT), the same thing they do at a hospital to see inside you. Also they frequently dissect them
• Bugscope Teambeetles do not have teeth but they may have hardened tips to their jaws

• Bugscope Teamwe would have to bust it open and let it dry, see what is inside
• 10:22 am
• Bugscope Teamwe have seen inside of mealworms before, and we could see the muscle attachments
• Teacherhow big is the microscope (electron)
  Bugscope Teamit is the size of a table. here is a picture of our ESEM: http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/ms/equipment/microscopes/esem/
• Bugscope Teamthe microscope is about the size of a large desk. the column is about 6 feet high

• Bugscope Teama transmission electron microscope is usually larger
• Bugscope Teamtaller

• StudentInside the mouth, is it skin?
  Bugscope Teamit's probably a softer tissue than the exoskeleton, yes

• Bugscope Teamthis is a louse, provided by our secretary, who somehow got it from one of her kids

• Bugscope Teamit's not really skin, but a skinlike membrane

• Bugscope Teamthe mouth is probably everted in real life
• Bugscope Teamthis is shrunken
• Bugscope Teamfrom drying
• Teacherare we looking at the sucking mouthparts? what about the spikes?
• Bugscope Teameven though Cate critical point dried it
• Bugscope Teamwe think the spikes help it attach to the human host skin
• Bugscope Teamso it can get down to business

• Bugscope Teamone of the reasons we use insects is that their hard chitinous exoskeleton retains its shape even if they're not elaborately dried. soft parts of the body like mouthparts, eyes, etc can dry out and shrivel though

• StudentWhat is the smallest bug you have looked at, and how large was it?
  Bugscope Teamone of the smallest I can think of is a special kind of mite that lives on the body of an earwig
  Bugscope TeamAh, the smallest I can think of was a Tardigrade, and it was about the size of a piece of dust. Even under a light microscope it just looked like a spec

• StudentAre the spikes what make us itch?

• Studentwhat is the largest bug you've ever looked at

• Bugscope Teamwhen we critical point dry samples we are trying to preserve the original shape of the membranous parts, but it does not always work so well

• Studentdo you scientists ever get bored?
  Bugscope TeamNEVER!!!
  Bugscope TeamThere is *always* something new to do. We're especially lucky where we work in that we're a support facility for other researchers. Thus there's a steady stream of new students and faculty with new projects coming in whose projects we get involved with

• 10:27 am

• Bugscope Teamthe biggest insects have been cicadas and grasshoppers

• Bugscope Teamthey are very large for the microscope, though, and we could not get many other critters on with them
• Bugscope Teamthere is a limit to how big a bug can be inside the microscope. there are bugs that are probably too big to fit in it.
• Bugscope Teamso usually we try to have small bugs
• Teacherwhat is your favorite insects to look at under this microscope?
  Bugscope Teami like mites, they are the bugs that bug bugs!
• Bugscope TeamI like earwigs

• Bugscope Teamespecially because as Chas mentioned they often have mites
• Bugscope TeamI like ants

• Studentis this bug missing any legs

• Bugscope Teamthe smoother area is silver paint

• StudentDoes a louse have wings?
  Bugscope Teamno they are wingless

• Bugscope TeamI am not sure if it is supposed to have six or eight legs

• Bugscope Teamleanne, you are doing an excellent job of controlling the scope.
• Bugscope TeamI think six, and it looks like they are all there

• Bugscope Teamthis is sort of like a cercopod on an earwig
• Bugscope Teama pincer tail
• Teacheris this a pincer for holding on?
• Bugscope Teamwe think it is just that
• Bugscope Teamto help it cling to hair
• Bugscope Teamon someone's head
• Studentwhat are the insects that bite and what are the ones that don't bite
  Bugscope Teamthere are so many millions of insects that it's hard to give a general answer. generally it's divided along the lines of carnivore and herbivore much like for other animals
• Teacherare these setae as well?
• StudentWhy can insects survive very cold weather?
  Bugscope Teamfirst and foremost their a lot simpler than we are. Also they're cold-blooded so cold temperatures just make them slow down (as opposed to becoming hypothermic and dying). Also some insects that survive winters actually produce a sort of anti-freeze in their bodies
• Bugscope Teamthe hairlike things are setae
• Studenthow many insects do you study each day
  Bugscope Teamwe normally put bugs in the ESEM for bugscope sessions, other scientists put many other things in to the scope, like metals or the like...

• 10:32 am
• Bugscope Teamsome insects bite and some don't -- I am not sure there is a division
• Bugscope Teamwe don't work with insects normally, just for bugscope
• Bugscope Teambugs are veyr hairy, sometimes you can find them inbetween the facets of a compound eye

• Bugscope Teamalthough Cate has been taking 3D images of bugs for a toy company
• Bugscope Teambed bugs bite heh
• Teacherwe are surprised at how hairy they are - cool!
  Bugscope Teamyes, those hairs (setae) help the bug to sense it's environment. so maybe the more hairs, the better the bug can sense where it is and what is around it.
• StudentHave you looked at a spider, and how small was it?
• Studentwhat is your education background
  Bugscope TeamI have a bachelors degree (undergraduate) in Physics and Computer Science. I'm currently working on a Ph.D in Bioengineering

• Studentspecifically college degrees?

• Bugscope Teamspiders can be fun to look at, but they dry out and shrink up easily, so they don't always look pretty

• Bugscope TeamI have a degree in English and Biology but still cannot type very well
• Studentwhat country have the most insects
• Teacherthorax?
• Bugscope TeamI imagine there are more insects toward the equator
• Bugscope Teamyup this is the thorax
• Teacherwhat are all the flakes? skin flakes from a human?
• Bugscope Teamspiders sometimes pop in the vacuum of the 'scope
• Bugscope Teamthey could be from Kendra's kids
• Teachernice view of jointed appendages
• StudentHow old do you have to be to work at Bugscope?
  Bugscope Teamchas was 14 when he first started working on bugscope, right chas?
• Studentwhat's a louse's scientific name
  Bugscope Teama louse is a Phthiraptera. if you look up louse on www.wikipedia.com, it will tell you the complete scientific classification of the louse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louse
• Bugscope Teamyou can see the spikes at the ends of some of the limbs.
• Bugscope TeamChas was 14 or 15 when he started -- child labor
• Bugscope TeamJust 15 I believe. I had to get a permit to work since I was under 16

• 10:37 am
• Bugscope TeamPediculus humanus
• Teacherlook at all this hair - setae
  Bugscope Teamit's amazing how insects can look slick and shiny to the eye but extremely hairy under the electron microscope. Part of it is that they're so small, part of it is that the hairs can be nearly transparent to light, but opaque to the electron microscope
• Bugscope TeamI got to help out with Bugscope because my school was only about a 3 minute walk from the Beckman Institute where this microscope is

• Bugscope Teamthis is cool -- these are slashing mouthparts

• Bugscope Teamthis is why horseflies hurt when they bite

• Bugscope Teamyou are doing a great job of driving
• Teacheris this a deer fly?
• Bugscope TeamPediculus humanus

• Bugscope Teamthis is smaller than a deerfly and we are not sure what it is
• StudentWhy are the fly's eyes so big?
  Bugscope Teamone of the reasons they have compound eyes is the ability to make them in those wrap-around shapes that give it a nearly 360 degree field of view, very important when you fly so fast or need to avoid predators (ever try and hit a fly with you hand?)

• Bugscope Teamwhen the eyes are big it is usually a flying insect
• Studentis that a nose we're looking at?
• Studentdo they use feelers?
  Bugscope Teamwell, i think the hairs (setae) are used in part to "feel" it's own environment.
• Bugscope Teamyes it very likely has a good sense of smell

• Studenthow do you prepare the bug to study under a microscope
• Bugscope Teamprobably not a nose, but a lot of chemosensory setae

• Studentwhere do you collect the bugs?
  Bugscope Teammany people bring us bugs from their homes. we also check out gardens occasionally and have people in the entomology department at the University that bring us bugs

• Teacherall of these students are working on their own insect collections
• Bugscope Teamoften we just let them dry out, then we mount them on a stub using doublestick carbon tape, and silver paint, and then we sputter coat them with gold-palladium

• Bugscope Teamheh I find a lot of insects in my house
• Bugscope Teamso even if we could see color, the insects/arthropods are silver
• 10:42 am

• StudentThere is a camera in our room - are you watching us?
  Bugscope Teamno, but please give us the website!
• Bugscope Teamoh can we?
• Bugscope Teamthat would be change for us

• Teacherwhy silver paint?
  Bugscope Teamit's silver because that's conductive. we use paint as an adhesive to hold them to the stub

• Studenthow many bugs do you have at the moment
  Bugscope Teamwe used to have a few hundred in vials of ethanol that someone dropped off with us. I think we've used a whole lot of them though...
• Bugscope Teamthe silver paint is very conductive and lets us ensure the sample is stuck down well as well as grounded
• Teacherwe'll send you bugs from our collections when we finish
  Bugscope Teamoh that would be cool
• Bugscope Teamwe have thousands of bugs but not that many that are good for imaging like this
• Bugscope Teamawesome
• Studentwhat is the thing above the mouth?
• Teacherare we looking at a tongue-like structure?
  Bugscope Teamyeah, we're seeing the actual mouthpart as well as some of the protective covering structures that usually surround it
• Bugscope Teamthat sounds great
• Studentthat curves up?
• Bugscope Teamyes this is the slashing mouthpart

• Studentwhat is the rarest bug in the world?
  Bugscope Teamthat is a difficult question for me to answer, i looked at wikipedia, but couldn't find an answer for you. there are so many species of bugs in the world, that it would be hard to know for sure which was the most rare.
• Bugscope Teamif we look up close we may see that the thing pointing toward us is serrated like a steak knife

• Bugscope Teamonce I was working with an entomologist who had one of six known flies of that type from Israel
• Teacheris the "tongue" sticky?
  Bugscope TeamIn the case of the horse fly I believe they usually have a sharp cutting instrument then a soft fleshy part that comes down and vacuums up the blood. I dunno if they need anything sticky
• Bugscope Teambut it is hard to say
• Teacherno wonder it hurts when they bite!
• Bugscope Teamthis one is not sticky, probably
• Bugscope Teamit cuts like a machete

• 10:47 am
• Teacherwow - all the students are oohing and ahhing!
• Bugscope Teama forest of setae

• Bugscope TeamI love hairs like these.... so complex. Looks like a forest of sea-weed or something

• Bugscope Teamnow it looks like a bee with a mohawk
• Bugscope Teamthis likely has ocelli on top of its head

• Bugscope TeamSpiders often have the most complex looking hairs. I believe they need the complicated shapes in order to handle their sticky web without getting stuck to it

• Teacherwe aren't sure what we are lookng at? is this the eye?
  Bugscope Teamyeah, I see an eye surrounded by a lot of hair and some antennae
• Bugscope Teamspiders also sense vibration very well, and their hairs are adapted to be able to pick up vibration
• Bugscope Teamtake the mag down, maybe, it's hard to tell where we are

• StudentDo the setae have nerves?
  Bugscope Teamthe "mechanosensory" setae typically extend through a hole in the exoskeleton into the body where they are anchored to some nerves. so the seta itself doesn't feel, but if it's deflected the movement is felt inside the body

• Bugscope TeamYou can see get a sense for how many facets, or individual eyes their are in this one compound eye

• Bugscope TeamMore than you can count for sure
• Studentdo the setae have nerves?
• Bugscope TeamLeanne/Nadeen you are doing a fantastic job driving.
• Teacherhow many facets are there? generally?
  Bugscope Teamthe number of facets is typically directly proportional to how important their eyes are to survival. Thus ants which live underground have about a hundred or so while flying insects can have thousands
• Bugscope Teamthe setae are often connected to nerves
• Teacherthanks. it is fun...i'm getting the hang of it.

• Studentwhy is the eye shaped like an octagon

• Bugscope Teamsometimes the setae are connected to several sensory nerves, for example some mosquito chemosensory setae can detect three different human chemicals

• StudentHave you ever been hurt by collecting bugs?

• 10:52 am

• Bugscope Teamthe individual ommatidia assume that shape because it is best for closepacking

• Bugscope Teamyou can see the hamuli here
• Bugscope Teamto the NE
• Teacherone of its wings - hamuli, what is that?
  Bugscope Teamup close they sort of look like velcro: loops and hooks that fasten to hold the wings together
• Bugscope Teamthe little wing hooks

• Bugscope Teamyou can see the hoops on the upper edge of the wing

• Teacherooh - we can see them now
• Bugscope Teaminsects that have four wings sometimes have the ability to clip the fore and hindwings together when they fly
• Bugscope Teamthey're very pretty
• Bugscope Teamthat lets them fly more efficiently
• Bugscope Teamwasps have that feature
• Bugscope Teamso those are clips that connect two wings
• Teachervery cool - we hadn't heard of that before...
• Bugscope Teamthe other thing we saw on this stub was a haltere

• Teacherwould it be possible to see these with the naked eye?
• Bugscope Teamthose are found on Diptera, which the name tells you have only two wings
• Bugscope TeamI don't think so, although they might give an interference pattern you could recognize
• Bugscope Teamgreen
• StudentHow big are their brains?

• Bugscope Teamthe brains are different sizes, but small -- often much of a brain is optic

• Studentthank you!
• StudentThank you thank you :)
• Teacherfirst group of kids are leaving and say thank you thank you thank you.
• Bugscope Teamin a fruit fly a majority of the brain has to do with sight
• Teachernext group of students is just arriving and will be asking questions as well
• Bugscope Teamcool! Thank You!
• Bugscope Teamthank you students, you had GREAT questions!
• 10:57 am
• Teacherwe have only 3 computers to get out chat out to you all. you are all GREAT! We are all learning a lot!
• Bugscope TeamIf you drive to preset 9 you can see the haltere on a dipteran
• TeacherKids said "thanks for your time"
• Bugscope Teambrb
• Bugscope Teamit is a pleasure to work with you!

• Teacherhaltere? i'm not familiar witht his term? bacteria?
  Bugscope Teamleanne, i took this directly from wikipedia: haltere: also known as balancers or poisers, are small knobbed structures found as a pair in some two-winged insects
  Bugscope Teamthe haltere looks like a small punching bag. you see it bouncing back and forth against the side of a fly's body in flight. in motion it acts as a gyroscope allowing the insect to detect extremely subtle changes in flight path allowing it to fly straight even in the wind, etc

• Bugscope TeamGlad to have you on students!

• Bugscope Teamit looks like a punching bag
• Bugscope Teamthe halteres function like gyroscopes
• Teacherso these roundish structures are there for balance?
  Bugscope Teamwe're zoomed in really high right now on a small part of the haltere. the small structures are actually waxy excretions from an insect called a leaf-hopper that got on this other sample

• Bugscope Teamyes
• Bugscope Teamif you take the mag down you can see it

• Bugscope Teamthe round things came from another insect

• Bugscope Teamhalteres help balance against the motion of the two wings
• Teacherwow - that is so neat - I've never heard of that before
• Bugscope Teamthe round things are brochosomes, from a leafhoper
• Teacherok - our next group of kids have just arrived...questions will begin momentarily with this next group
• Bugscope Teamhi students, welcome to bugscope!
• Bugscope Teamtry taking the mag way down and you can see the shape of the haltere
• Bugscope TeamLeAnne this has been an exemplary session -- you are doing such a good job.
• Bugscope Teamthe round things that kind of look like cereal (what's the name again?) are about 100nm across it looks like, meaning they're smaller than the wavelength of light!
• Bugscope Teamkix
• 11:02 am

• Bugscope Teamnow you can see the haltere clearly

• Bugscope Teamand the wing
• Bugscope Teamand the folded limbs

• Bugscope Teampretty complicated body structure

• Bugscope Teamthe setae on the face make up the vestiture
• StudentWhat power or magnification is this microscope?
  Bugscope Teamour ESEM can magnify up to 600,000 times i believe, but at that mag you can't see much. for bugs, magnifications of 50-25,000 times are much more useful.
• StudentHow many electron microscopes are there in the world?
  Bugscope Teamit's hard to say definitively, but they are much rarer than light microscopes. typically there is only one at smaller colleges and maybe a handful at larger universities

• Bugscope Teamhey all

• Bugscope Teamyay!]
• Bugscope TeamAnnie, our entomologist, has arrived
• StudentWhat is the function of the hairlike structures on the antennae?
  Bugscope Teamthe hairs (more correctly called setae) allow the insect to sense its environment. They can be mechanosensory or chemosensory
• Bugscope Teamwe had to wing it without her

• Studentha ha wing it!

• Studentnow we can really fly!

• Bugscope Teamthe hairs on the antennae are often highly chemosensory

• StudentWhat is under the exoskeleton and how is it connected to the exoskeleton?
  Bugscope TeamUnder the exoskeleton are muscles and organs.

• Bugscope Teamlots of juice called hemolymph
• 11:07 am
• Bugscope Teamthe 'blood'

• Bugscope Teamthere are muscle and nerves under the skeleton
• Bugscope Teamthe nerves are attached to the setae
• Teachertit looks like there are "hooks" underneath the eyes - what are they?
• Bugscope Teamand muscles, nerves (d'oh!), guts
• Bugscope TeamIt is exactly the opposite of vertebrates who have their skin and organs and muscles on the outside of their skeletons
• Bugscope Teamwow go in!
• StudentDo insects have organs like us?
  Bugscope TeamNot all the same organs. They have a heart and a digestive system and a nervous system. They have "blood", although it doesn't carry oxygen like ours does.

• StudentCan insects grow antennae back if they were to fall or break off?

• Bugscope Teamhard to see here, isn't it?
• Teacheryeah - I seem to have lost it
• Bugscope TeamBut yes, they have organs, small organs, but organs nonetheless

• Teacherthese look like eyes - are they sensory organs?
• Bugscope Teamwe cannot make it so you can tilt because it is a manual function with a big lever on the front of the 'scope
• Bugscope Teamthis is the clypeus, Annie?

• Bugscope Teamthe eyes are to the left and right

• Bugscope Teamso this houses the muscles that make the mouth work

• Bugscope Teamummm...more like the frons
• Bugscope Teamthat's why I asked
• Bugscope Teamthe clypeus is the "upper lip"
• Bugscope Teamalthough it could be an enlarged clypeus
• 11:13 am
• Bugscope TeamAnnie works with emerald ash borers and can tell you what they learn about them
• Bugscope Teamis this a horsefly?
• Bugscope Teamheh
• StudentDoes the pattern on the wings help the insect fly?
  Bugscope TeamNot really. Ususally the pattern on an insects wings is for camoflauge or for warning...depending upon the color

• Bugscope Teamnot sure what it is annie

• Bugscope Teamit is smaller than a normal horsefly or deerfly

• Bugscope Teamhmmm. it has those horse fly looking mouthparts
• Bugscope Teamin some ways we think the tiny setae on the wing help the insect hold the air
• Bugscope Teamthey probably trap air, provide surface area with a minimum of weight

• Bugscope Teamthis is the booty of one of the bugs -- looks like a stinger but is not
• Bugscope Teamthe tip of the abdomen
• Teacherwe have a question about if all insects die after stinging?
• Bugscope Teamnot all die after
• Bugscope Teamyou meant the color pattern, right? Not the pattern or setae, right?
• Bugscope Teamsome can sting repeatedly
• Bugscope TeamToo many "rights" there ;)
• StudentWhat is the function of the hairlike structures on the stinger?
• Bugscope Teamthis is (another) one we have not identified
• Bugscope Teami believe bees die after only once
• Bugscope Teamprobably mostly sensory
• StudentWhat makes the sting hurt so badly?
  Bugscope TeamThe insect injects a venom when they sting. That is what hurts.

• Bugscope Teamlike rat or cat whiskers

• StudentAnd why so many hairlike structures?
  Bugscope TeamBecause the hairs are the only way for the insect to sense its environment through its thick exoskeleton

• Bugscope Teamso if you are stung multiple times, you could have an allergic reaction to the venon

• 11:18 am
• StudentWhat's the most dangerous wasp on the planet?
  Bugscope TeamWell, I have heard that the tarantual hawk has the most painful sting.
• StudentWhat are the small white specks on the stinger?
• Teacherwe'll be studying Melitobia digitata next week - tiny tiny parasitic wasps - how big is this little wasp?
  Bugscope Teamdo you know what family of wasps Melitobia is in? I can give you a size estimate based on that.

• Bugscope Teamthe white specks are brochosomes

• StudentHow many joints does the leg have?
  Bugscope Teamthere are at least five joints in each insect leg....there can be more depending on the number of tarsomeres

• StudentWhere do tarantual hawk wasps live?
  Bugscope TeamYou can find them in the southwest US and into the tropics. They are whereever you find tarantulas.

• TeacherI don't know...ugh.
• Teacherit looks like 3 claws? what is the proper name for this?
• Bugscope Teamthe leg has multiple joints that vary in number
• Bugscope Teamthe ones toward the claw are called tarsi
• Teacherare they parasitic using tarantulas as host?
  Bugscope TeamThey sting and paralyze tarantulas and lay their eggs on them
• Bugscope Teamtwo claws and the pulvillus
• Bugscope Teamthe third claw we see is from another limb

• StudentHow long have insects lived on earth?
  Bugscope Teaminsects are the most diverse group of animals on earth, with more than a million species described. they have been around on earth hundreds of millions of years, which is the date of the oldest insect fossil.
• Teacherwhat is a tarsomere?
  Bugscope Teama tarsomere is an individual segement of the tarsi--the feet!

• Teachernow we can see some of these joints
• 11:23 am
• StudentDo all insects have these sensory "hairs"?

• Bugscope Teama tarsomere is an individual segment of the tarsus

• StudentCan every bee sting?
  Bugscope TeamNot every bee can sting. There are some tropical bees that have no stingers. They are called...stingless bees!

• Teacherwhat is a tarsus?
  Bugscope TeamA tarsus is one tarsi---and a tarsi is an insects foot.

• StudentHow do wasps make their nests?

• Bugscope Teamtarsus is sort of like the forearm

• StudentWhat holds the main body parts together?

• Teacherit looks like we are looking at a missing leg?
• Bugscope TeamYou can see more hamuli here
• Bugscope Teamah yes, on the bottom right? sometimes things fall off...
• TeacherI think I see some more hook-like structures here on the wing?
• Bugscope Teamyep i see the hooks too

• StudentWhat are these hooks used for?
  Bugscope TeamThese hooks--called hamuli--hold the fore and hind wing of the bee together when they fly

• StudentWhat are these dots on the wings?
  Bugscope TeamThe dots are little setae---althought they are so small, I am not sure of their function

• StudentDo all bugs have compound eyes?
  Bugscope TeamHmm.....there are some insects that are eyeless (that live in caves), and there are some with reduced eyes.
• 11:28 am

• StudentDoes the stinger retract or is it constantly "out"?

• StudentDo bees sting other bees?
  Bugscope TeamYes

• Teacherits mouth looks beak like?
• Bugscope Teamsthe stinger is also known as an ovipositor, and I think it can be retracted

• Teacherare the mouthparts up inside here?
  Bugscope Teamyes those are parts of the mouth, it looks like it is eating another insect, but those are mouth parts
• Bugscope Teamants have a similar busy mouth structure

• Teacherare these setae on the eye? why on the eye?
  Bugscope Teamsetae can be found on the eye, especially on flying ensects
• StudentIf bees sting other bees, does the target bee die? Does the stinging bee died?
  Bugscope TeamIf it is a honey bee, then I guess both bees could die. I think it would depend on who was the most unlucky bee

• StudentDo beetles eat each other?
  Bugscope Teamyes, they do. There are some predatory beetles (ground and tiger and checkered beetles) and there are some beetles that will eat other beetles if they get the opportunity (they will eat anything they can, including other beetles)

• Bugscope Teamif you see setae on a compound eye of a flying einsect, the function of them is to detect wind movement usually
• Teacheri guess this would help them sense when a flyswatter or tail is coming near to swatting them?
• Bugscope Teamyes they can also sense that with them

• 11:33 am
• Teacherooooo gross! students say....he needs to brush!
• StudentWe saw a slow motion movie of a fly in flight - do other insects see in slow motion?
• Bugscope Teamheh

• Bugscope Teamyes he does, makes me want to brush my teeth

• StudentWhy do the legs curl up when they die?
• StudentAnnie, do you know what type of beetle this is?
  Bugscope TeamThis looks like a sap

• Bugscope Teami'm not sure if they see in slow motion, but some see infrared, and I think UV as well

• StudentThe antennae seem to cover the eyes???
• Bugscope Teamsap beetle

• StudentDo beetles have teeth?
  Bugscope Teamthey have teeth on their mandibles
• Bugscope TeamI think

• Bugscope Teamand probably on their maxialle too

• Bugscope TeamI actually can't tell when this beetle is. It almost looks like a water beetle---could that be possible?
• Bugscope TeamI just know it is a small beetle
• 11:38 am
• Teacherare these compound eyes - the hexagonal designed on the sides?
• StudentWhat are the dots or pores on the "forehead"?
  Bugscope TeamThe indentations look just like cuticular structuring
• Bugscope Teamyes kind of like a honeycombe shape

• StudentWhy do the legs curl up when the bug dies?
  Bugscope TeamYou know that is a good question...not all insects curl up when they die, but many do. It probably is because the insect is no longer maintaining the appropriate fluid pressure in its legs and so they curl up. I know that is why spiders curl up when they die.
  Bugscope Teamwhen bugs die they dry out, so some of the curling might be due to drying out.
• StudentHave there been experiments some of the sensory hairs on live insects to see how it effects them?
  Bugscope TeamYes, there is an entire sub-branch of entomology that deals with electrophysiology. They can actually attach single electrode sensors to single setae and record the effects of temperature, chemicals, or any stimulus on the hair.

• Bugscope TeamI'm sure there have been experiments, annie might know in more detail
• Studenthow did lice get started - a long time ago?
  Bugscope TeamI am not sure when in the history of the earth lice first appeared. I do know that many lice co-evolved with their hosts...I can elaborate more on that if you are interested.
• Teacherare the tiny dots on the left and right of the big mouth the eyes?
  Bugscope Teamif you move closer, I think those are setae coming out of pores

• 11:43 am
• Bugscope Teamwow a louse, awesome!

• Bugscope Teamthese guys have very spiky spines, maybe it helps them cling to the hair
• Bugscope Teamand the scalp
• Teachercould we call this "armpit" a "lousepit"? :-)
• StudentWhat are the little bumps here?
  Bugscope TeamThis is just some sort of cuticular sculpturing, I am not sure if it is of any significance.
• Bugscope Teamhaha
• Teacherall the bumps on these joints...what are they?
• Studenthow big were the prehistoric insects?
  Bugscope Teammost were a ton bigger than they are now, I think dragonflies were something like 3x the size they are now

• StudentHow can you tell male/female?
  Bugscope TeamI don't know how to tell male/female lice apart. I am sure it is something to do with the shape of the genital plate...but I am not a louse expert (thankfully!)

• Bugscope TeamThere are two groups of lice, sucking lice and chewing lice. This is a sucking louse.
• Teacherare there human chewing lice?
  Bugscope TeamThere are no human chewing lice...chewing lice are mostly found on non-human animals.

• 11:49 am
• Teacherthis is my favorite shot - the forest of bee hair! :-)
  Bugscope Teammine too!

• Bugscope Teamcate made this preset.
• Teacherdo they groom themselves?
  Bugscope TeamInsects constantly groom themselves. They have to keep those hairs clean so they can sense their environment.
• Teacherthanks cate - a good one

• Teacherstinger?
• Bugscope Teamthat looks sharp and pointy in there
• Teacherit looks retracted into the abdomen?
  Bugscope TeamI really cant tell
• Bugscope Teamwhat do you think annie
• Bugscope Teamand it has setae on it as well.

• Bugscope TeamForked hairs forked hairs...that is an important taxonomic character to separate the order hymenoptera into families
• StudentIs there a reason they have compound eyes?
• StudentTHANK YOU!! :-)
• Teacherall the kids are off to their next class - they say thank you for being here with us! Thank you!!!!
• StudentMany Thanks!
• Bugscope TeamBees and sphecid wasps have forked haors
• Bugscope Teamthank you! you all were amazing, one of the best bugscope sessions ever.
• Bugscope Teamthanks guys, it was a great session
• Bugscope Teamwhew
• 11:54 am
• Bugscope Team:)
• Bugscope TeamYes, LeAnne your classes asked some really great questions and your driving was excellent
• Bugscope TeamLots of GOOD questions!
• TeacherThis was awesome...you guys are great! What a great time this was!!! We are excited to go through the transcript later and discuss all we've learned.
• Bugscope TeamSounds great
• Bugscope Teamthese images are also saved
• Bugscope TeamAnd if you need any more information, clarification, etc. I would be happy to help.
• Bugscope Teamyou guys have been great, and nice driving all the way leanne
• Teacherthanks. I'm logging out now. thanks again for making such possible.
• Bugscope TeamBye LeAnne!
• Bugscope Teambye LeAnne thank you for all the questions!!
• Bugscope Teamgo ahead and shut down i mean
• 11:59 am
• Bugscope Teamclosing down the session now...
• Bugscope TeamOK bye bye everyone. Fun session today!