Connected on 2007-10-10 10:30:00
from Yarmouth, ME, US
- 9:57 am
- Bugscope TeamI think it is a built-in comb on a juvenile cockroach leg
- Bugscope Teamhmm
- Bugscope TeamAlex will you make a preset out of it please?
- Bugscope Teamso lovely
- Bugscope Teamcalled?
- Bugscope Teamit does look cool waht part?
- Bugscope Teamwhat
- Bugscope TeamComb on Baby Roach leg
- Bugscope Teamnice
- Bugscope Teamgot it
- Bugscope Teamthis little dude had a full life
- Bugscope Teamthank you for getting that for me
- Bugscope Teamfull and messy life from the looks of it
- Bugscope Teamthis is so gnarly
- Bugscope Teamyeah full and messy life
- Bugscope Teamouch
- Bugscope Teamspikey
- 10:03 am
- Bugscope Teampreset: section of diatom on roach abdomen
- Bugscope Teamgot it
- 10:08 am
- Bugscope Teamsomehow i see a display of image info at the top of my image
- Bugscope Teamif you click on the micron bar it will go away
- Bugscope Teamtry it
- Bugscope Teamyou can put it back if you want
- Bugscope Teamhi stephanie! welcome to bugscope.
- Bugscope Teamheya stephanie
- Bugscope Teamwe are all setup and ready for you, you can start practicing controlling the scope if you like...
- Bugscope Teampresets are on the bottom right. microscope controls are upper right.
- Bugscope TeamHi Stephanie!
- Bugscope TeamWelcome to Bugscope!
- Bugscope Teamhi
- 10:13 am
- TeacherHi guys. My tech coordinator will be joining me to drive the microscope and do the typing while I help pull quesions out of the kids. We will be ready to go at the start time. Thanks so much.
- Bugscope Teamcoolness
- Bugscope TeamCool.
- 10:25 am
- TeacherHi, it's Cathy, back for another time!
- Bugscope TeamYay!
- Bugscope TeamThis was an interesting assortment of stuff.
- Bugscope Teamyo cathy!
- Bugscope TeamCate put what she could on the stub, and added a few things. The praying mantis was very large.
- TeacherWhere should we start?
- Bugscope TeamGo to a preset, or take the mag down here. Whatever you would like.
- TeacherThey want the Praying mantis
- Bugscope Teamwell, you could try clicking on a preset, that'll take you to places of interest
- Bugscope Teamah ha
- Bugscope Teamcontrolling the scope is done with 4 controls: magnify, navigation, focus and adjust.
- Bugscope Teamnasty little arms like a T rex
- Bugscope Teamfeel free to use any of those you like. just click on one of the blue buttons to use the control.
- TeacherStephanie just asked the class if this looks like anything they see in Maine.
- 10:30 am
- TeacherAnswers included lobsters, bluefish, crabs, shark's mouth.
- Bugscope Teamwow yeah
- Bugscope Teamcool
- Bugscope Teamthat has been my suspicion all along -- that lobsters are just very big bugs
- TeacherWhat is the "moss-like" part of the leg in the Center right now?
- Bugscope Teamtake the mag up to see
- Bugscope Teamit may be sensory
- TeacherGuesses are dirt, fungi, an injury or scrape.
- Bugscope Teamcan you zoom in on it a bit?
- Bugscope Teamit looks like different kinds of setae
- Bugscope Teamyeah not sure it belongs there
- Bugscope Teamso we can get a better look...
- Bugscope Teamnow I think Cate is right -- may be sensory setae
- Bugscope Teamhmm, yes those look like setae, see the holes that the "hairs" are coming out of. those are setae
- Bugscope Teamthey can sense something touching them and possibly smell it
- Bugscope Teamyou should be able to focus a bit more
- Bugscope Teamand/or take the mag up
- Bugscope Teamfocus can be tricky, try going one way, if it gets worse, go the other way...
- Bugscope Teamusually insects are covered with setae -- the tiny hairs
- Bugscope Teamnice focusing
- Bugscope Teamvery good focus!!! great job controlling the scope... yeah, now you can see.
- Bugscope Teambut praying mantises, roaches, crickets, and grasshoppers,don't have so many tiny setae
- TeacherThanks for your tips!
- 10:36 am
- Bugscope Teamso Stephanie we can see that it was something that belonged to the praying mantis, and it was very likely sensory
- TeacherHow old can a praying mantis get?
Bugscope Teamthey live up to around a few months
- Bugscope Teamonce they get wings they will not grow any more
- Bugscope Teampraying mantis can get VERY big too, the size of your hand.
- Bugscope Teambut not all mantids with wings can fly
- Bugscope Teaman adult hand! scary!
- Bugscope Teamhere is a pic of a big praying mantis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:NG-PrayingMantis.jpg
- TeacherWhat are those tiny things near the claws? (We zoomed in to see more setae)
- Bugscope Teamthese aresensory setae as well
- TeacherThe hair type thing
- Bugscope Teamyes, like scott said, those are more setae. the insect uses setae to sense its environment, so the more they have, the better they feel.
- Bugscope TeamI called Liz at the Hanks lab, and she said PMs can molt and molt until they get to be adults and have wings, and she said it depends on species but they can live a few months, as Cate said
- Bugscope Teamthese are Monarch wing scales, and some of them are painted with silver to try to cut down the charging -- the whiteness -- that we see now
- Bugscope Teamthe electron beam makes the sample charge up with electrons that the sample cannot always shed
- 10:41 am
- Bugscope Teamscales are especially susceptible to charging because they are tiny and loose -- not well connected or grounded to the stage
- TeacherHow many scales are there on a butterfly wing?
- Bugscope Teamthat's why we saw all of that flaring
- Bugscope Teamthere must be tens of thousands
- Bugscope Teamthe scales make the wing feel silky when you touch it
- TeacherWhay are the vertical lines on the scales
Bugscope Teamthe vertical lines are like ribs, they provide support
- Bugscope Teamthe vertical lines are ribs that make them stronger
- TeacherAre there holes in the wing scales?
Bugscope Teamyes! the scales can be very fragile. the scales are very light and thin, which aid in the aerodynamic ability of the wing, but they also can break easily.
- Bugscope Teamthey are much like feathers are to a bird
- Bugscope Teamthe holes make the scale lighter
- Bugscope Teamto a flying insect the air feels thick, like water does to us
- TeacherAre the black parts in the scales colored black or are they the holes?
Bugscope Teamthey are holes, for sure.
- Bugscope Teamthe scales add surface area to the wing and help it hold the air
- TeacherHow much can a monarch butterfly weigh?
Bugscope Teamnot sure of the weight, but they can be as big as 13cm
Bugscope Teamsmall ones wiegh about .0001 ounce big ones up to .1 ounce
- Bugscope Teamthe pattern of the scales is very fine and may not be real colors -- the patterns may cause you to see structural colors, depending on how close the ribs are, for example
- 10:46 am
- Bugscope TeamI think they wiegh no more than a few grams
- Bugscope Teamwiegh
- Bugscope Teamweigh
- Bugscope Teamway
- Bugscope Teamthis is cool
- Bugscope Teamthis is the edge of the proboscis
- Bugscope Team13cm is about 5 inches...
- TeacherHow big can a proboscis get?
- Bugscope Teamsometimes we will see spines on these that help the insect hold gently to the flower it is feeding from
- Bugscope Teamit can be as much as a couple of cm if the butterfly or moth is large
- Bugscope Teamyou can see here that there are recurved spines (to the right) that may be retractable
- Bugscope Teamon the proboscis
- TeacherWhat does a proboscis feel like?
- Bugscope Teamto us it sort of tickles
- Bugscope Teamif there are 28 grams in an ounce, then 2 or 3 grams
- Bugscope Teamfor a big one, as Jon sayd
- TeacherWe don't know how to pronounce the word probscis?
- Bugscope Teamsays
- Bugscope Teampro boss kiss
- Bugscope Teamor pro boss sis
- TeacherThanks!
- Bugscope Teampeople say it either way
- 10:51 am
- Bugscope Teamusually the second syllable is accented
- TeacherDoes the proboscis have scales?
- TeacherHow big can one scale on the butterfly wing get?
- Bugscope Teamumm not sure
- TeacherAre there holes in the proboscis?
- Bugscope Teama mosquito proboscis has scales so it is likely the butterfly's could as well
- Bugscope Teambut I think it is like a big straw and does not have holes or pores in it
- Bugscope Teamthe mosquito proboscis is actually a sheath for the lancet that is inside
- TeacherWe read that there are over 25,000 species of wasps, do you know exactly how many species ther are?
- Bugscope Teamit has a slit running from top to bottom (that of the mosquito)
- Bugscope Teamno one really knows for sure
- TeacherWhat do praying mantis eat?
Bugscope Teampraying mantis are carniverous, so they eat other insects!
- Bugscope Teamwasps can be super tiny and live only in one locale
- Bugscope Teamthere are a lot of parasitic wasps
- Bugscope Teampraying mantids eat other insects, and if they are super big, then they can eat small reptiles, birds and even some mammals
- Bugscope TeamI saw on the web once a story about a praying mantis leaping in the air and grabbing a hummingbird
- 10:57 am
- TeacherFor the proboscis, we wonder how far it can roll up, how tight can it get?
- TeacherWe see the eye facets, why are they shaped like hexagons?
- Bugscope Teamit rolls into a tight coil
- Bugscope Teamvery efficiently stored for flying
- Bugscope Teamthe hexagonal shape is often found in close-packing in nature
- Bugscope Teami think the hexagonal shape allows for a curved surface, much better than a bunch of squares would...
- Bugscope Teamthe ommatidia are generally round but packed together they are hexagonal
- Bugscope TeamAlex is brilliant
- Bugscope Teamlike Buckminster Fuller
- Bugscope Teamblush...
- Bugscope Teamthe more ommatidia an insect has the better it can see things
- Bugscope Teamlike Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes.
- TeacherA student read in a book that a honeybee is more poisonous than a tarantula, is that ture?
Bugscope Teamthey are probably about equal---with the exception of a few tarantulas that are more poisionous
- TeacherHow does the praying mantis eat?
Bugscope Teamthe praying mantis will use camouflage to hid, and then it'll grab it's pray quickly in it's fore-legs, and then start chomping on the meal, using it's legs to guide the food into it's mouth.
- 11:02 am
- TeacherWhich one is more poisonous, the wasp or the honeybee?
Bugscope Teama honey bee has a hook so the stinger stays an pumps venum. Hornets do not have a hook
- TeacherWhat is the bump thing in the center of our screen?
- TeacherThe bump kind of looks kind of like a caterpillar?
Bugscope TeamThe bump is part of the antenna
Bugscope TeamActually, I think that is actually part of the mantid's mouth
- Bugscope Teamwhether which one is more poisonous depends on the person, if that person is allergic or not
- Bugscope TeamA bee sting contains more proteins and active agents than a wasp sting and thus has more possibility to cause an allergic reaction in humans.
- Bugscope Teambut a wasp can sting multiple times
- Bugscope Teamso it all depends
- TeacherWere there some antenna that broke off the bumps in the middle of the picture?
Bugscope Teamyes that is where the antennae broke off
- Bugscope Teamalso the wasp can call its comrades and have them sting you too, while with a bee, you need to provoke them to have them sting you, they are peaceful otehrwise
Bugscope TeamBees also have a alarm pheromone that can inspire the entire hive to attack
- 11:07 am
- TeacherIs a praying mantis harmful to a garden?
Bugscope TeamNo, praying mantises are beneficial to a garden, they eat pest insects
- TeacherIs a praying mantis poisonous?
Bugscope TeamNo, praying mantises are completely harmless. They occasionally bite---but that is rare.
- TeacherWhat are the things in the middle of this screen?
- Bugscope Teamoh thanks annie, i didnt know that
- Bugscope Teamhee hee ;)
- TeacherIs the dragonfly wing fragile?
Bugscope TeamThey are suprisingly durable, considering that they are so thin. They do get torn and battered over time, especially if the dragonfly has any encounters with birds or other predators
- Bugscope Teamyay I am glad Annie is here. I had to run off to help someone with the carbon coater.
- TeacherWhat is a dragonfly wing made of
- TeacherHow long can a dragonfly wing get?
Bugscope TeamThe largest dragonfly in North America probably have wings about 3 inches long
- Bugscope Teamit's made of chitin
- Bugscope Teamkite-in
- Bugscope Teamthey can be several inches long, on a tropical dragonfly
- 11:12 am
- Bugscope Teamthe wings are pretty tough
- TeacherWhat other animals are made of chitin?
Bugscope TeamOther arthropods have bodies made of chitin---so crabs, lobsters, shrimp, millipedes, spiders, etc. And fungi have chitin in their cell walls.
- Bugscope Teamchitin is like the shell of a shrimp, but in this case it is thinner
- TeacherWhat are the darfk lines in the background of the wing?
- Bugscope Teamsome of what we see that is dark is dirt and scratches
- Bugscope Teamsome of the dark spots are places where there is some oily substance on the wing and the gold-palladium we sputtered on does not coat well
- Bugscope Teamchitin is also called cuticle, like your fingernails
- TeacherCan a dragonfly change color?
Bugscope TeamWhen dragonflies are "babies" living under water they are usually brown or black or greenish. When they molt to adults they take on a different color. Some dragonflies are beautiful metallic colors that appear to change in the sunlight. But, once they are adults, they don't change colors.
- Bugscope Teamit forms the exoskeleton of the insect or arthropod
- TeacherAre we seeing veins on the dragonfly wing?
- Bugscope Teamthis dragonfly had little green hashmarks on it
- Bugscope Teamthis is one of the veins here
- 11:18 am
- Bugscope Teamgood job driving
- TeacherWhat can the ant claw be used for?
Bugscope TeamAnts use their claws to hold onto surfaces as they walk.
- TeacherWhat are the "white" things?
- TeacherWhat is the opening in the middle of the screen?
- Bugscope Teamthe white setae are sensory
- TeacherWhat are the small dark holes on either side fo the bottom part>
- TeacherAre the claws usually symmetrical?
Bugscope TeamI think that claws are pretty consistently symmetrical across the class insecta
- TeacherHow long does an ant claw usually get?
- Bugscope Teamyou are asking a lot of great questions
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that this claw is about 0.2 mm long
- TeacherWe read about a dragonfly scientist an "odonatologist". Do you know him>
Bugscope TeamI don't personally know any odonatologists....but I study beetles, so I don't have many opportunities to hang out with aquatic entomologists---including odonatologists
- Bugscope Teamnotice in the bottom left of the image is a scale. that can give you an idea of length
- Bugscope Teamthey are different sizes depending on the ant species and what kind of job the ant has in the colony
- TeacherWhat's the big horn on the claw?
- 11:24 am
- Bugscope Teamwe are not sure about some of these features, like the horn, Stephanie.
- TeacherWhat is the hole at the base of the picture?
- TeacherIs the leg hollow?
Bugscope TeamThe legs have muscles in them. When the insect dies, the muscle dries out and so the legs look hollwo
- Bugscope Teamthat is, sadly, where the end of the arm is missing
- TeacherAre cockroaches helpful or harmful?
Bugscope TeamCockroaches are considered harmful insects because they are gross, they smell, they infest food, and they can irritate people's allergies
- Bugscope Teamthere is no claw here.
- TeacherHow long can the leg get?
- Bugscope Teambecause they help disassemble things I guess you could say they were helpful
- Bugscope Teamare humans helpful or harmful? interesting question...
- Bugscope Teamthis was a very small roach I think but I wanted Annie to confirm that
- Bugscope Teami know i wouldnt want them in my food, leaving behind their droppings and what not
- Bugscope Teamwell, that's true, harmful to people.
- Bugscope Teamlike, it was not an adult
- Bugscope Teambut it had, clearly, an adventurous life
- TeacherWhat kind of scientists are you?
Bugscope TeamI am an entomologist
- TeacherThank you for letting us visit thsi website!!
- Bugscope Teamthanks for picking that up Annie
- Bugscope TeamThis insect on the screen??
- Bugscope TeamStephanie we had a great time. Thank You.
- Bugscope Teamyes
- 11:29 am
- Bugscope Teami'm a systems administrator = computer dude
- TeacherWe have to go, we had a great time learning new facts!
- TeacherBye!
- Bugscope TeamI need to see the head...it kind of looks coleopteran from here
- Bugscope TeamDeana wanted to know if it was a roach for sure.
- Bugscope TeamBye thank you for all the good questions!
- Bugscope Teamall right, wee hope to see you again next semester
- Bugscope TeamI am a microscopist --I run microscopes for a living
- Bugscope Teamyeah....it fell off somewhere
- Bugscope TeamNE
- Bugscope Teamit was transparent and looked like a 'juvenile' roach to me
- Bugscope TeamHmm, maybe...did it have long antennae?
- Bugscope Teamyes
- Bugscope TeamIt looks like a roach to me.
- Bugscope Teamit had long antennae
- Bugscope TeamTwo entomologists think this is a roach
- Bugscope Teamit was in Deana's window, on the sill
- Bugscope TeamI had Liz look too
- Bugscope Teamand it had lots of pollen and juju on it
- Bugscope Teamso I think it crawled up and outside wall to get in
- Bugscope Teamjuju is the name of a miles davis tune.
- Bugscope Teama lot better than having been born under the stove, where there is little pollen
- Bugscope Teamterminator
- Bugscope TeamI think it was alive girl pirate
- Bugscope Teamshe froze it
- Bugscope Teamand its bleeding head fell off
- Bugscope Teamto use her terminology
- 11:34 am
- Bugscope Teamboy
- Bugscope TeamAnnie tell Liz thank you for helping this morning earlier
- Bugscope TeamI did
- Bugscope Teamshe says you are welcome
- Bugscope TeamCool mademoiselle.
- Bugscope Teamtomorrow morning
- Bugscope Teamlate morning
- Bugscope Teamconnection 11 to 12:45
- Bugscope Teamokay I am out the door
- Bugscope Teamthank you everyone
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