Connected on 2007-12-17 12:15:00
from , RI, US
- 11:37 am
- Bugscope TeamHi Jacqueline!
- Teacherhi Chas!
- TeacherI'm just settiing up while the kids are at lunch,,,,,
- Bugscope Teamwelcome to bguscope
- Teacherthanks!
- Bugscope Teamcool, we are doing your preset, we'll be ready in 10-15 minutes
- Bugscope Teamat that point you can practice driving the scope if you like...
- Teacherthat's great, I'm picking up the class in awhile, and then we'll be ready to roll w2hen you are!
- 11:42 am
- Bugscope Teamokay
- 11:49 am
- 11:58 am
- Bugscope Team~Hello
- Bugscope TeamHmmm...maybe the German tilda does not work...
- Bugscope Team~test
- Bugscope TeamI have been printing out school addresses here in my home town and will hand out the Bugscope Scott had mailed to me =)
- Teacherhi, I just got back
- Bugscope TeamHi, we're just about ready to let you take control here. Setting the last preset!
- 12:03 pm
- Bugscope Teamokay, session is unlocked, we are ready for you and your class jackie!
- Bugscope Teamask us any questions that you may have.
- Bugscope Teamare the kids going to login themselves? or chat through you?
- Teachergreat, did any of my specimens MAKE IT TO YOU?
- TeacherThey'll be chatting through me, since I'm projectinig onto the whiteboard..,.
- Bugscope Teamwhat age are the kids/what grade?
- Bugscope Teamyep, presets are #1, #8, #9, #10
- Teacherthis is grade 2...
- Teacherwe'
- Teacherwe're ready to begin!
- Bugscope Teamcool, we are ready too
- Bugscope TeamScot, the German tilda sign does not work. I am not sure if Chas has any quick fixes.
- Bugscope Teamjackie, you can drive the scope via the controls on the top right side of your browser: magnify, nav, focus and adjust
- TeacherWhat is the picture we're seeing right now?
- Bugscope Team~
- Bugscope Teamthis is the edge of a psudeopod pupa of an unknown bug that you sent to us
- Teacherthat was a waxworm pupa....
- Bugscope Teamthis is a pupa you sent; it's part of a repeating set of what look like pseudopodia
- Bugscope Teamnotice the magnification is currently at 500x, you can change that any time you like
- Bugscope Teamcool
- 12:08 pm
- Bugscope Teamyeah you can take the mag lower to see where you are
- Bugscope Teamah, okay a waxworm pupa. i will change the database to reflect that
- Bugscope TeamNice job with the focus! It looks like there's a leg or something dangling up above, thus the blurry part in the center
- Bugscope Teamsometimes at higher mags it is hard to tell what we are looking at
- Bugscope Teamthere is some juju on this
- Bugscope TeamGreat, now we can see something hovering above the part that's in focus below. It's most likely a leg since we try to put them on their backs
- Bugscope TeamJTG you can choose any one of the presets to the right, here, and the 'scope will take you to that place
- Bugscope TeamHi Don!
- GuestHi, Scott!
- Teacherwhat are the bumps on there (brandon)?
Bugscope TeamWe're seeing a cross-section of the outer skin of the pupa, presumably where it has broken after it dried. The bumps may just be from it shriveling up due to dehydration
- Bugscope Teamwhat we see now is a cross-section of the pupa cuticle -- the shell around the worm's internal organs
- Bugscope Teamthe bumps are folds and debris
- Teachercool
- Bugscope Teamsome of the bugs can get kinda dirty...
- Bugscope TeamIf you take the mag lower you can see where we are on the pupa
- 12:13 pm
- Bugscope Teamjackie, this is one of the bugs you sent us, we thoguht a caterpillar?
- Bugscope Teamthis is the caterpillar-like casing you sent
- TeacherThat's a painted lady caterpillar!
- Bugscope Teamcoolness
- Bugscope Teamthis is something we have never seen before
- TeacherWhy are there little holes at the ends ?
- Bugscope Teamit is on the inside of the body cavity
- Bugscope TeamWe see a lot of hair-like structures ("setae"), but very infrequently do the appear hollow as these do
- Bugscope Teamwe wonder whether they are absorptive structures
- Bugscope Teamif you look up close, a little further along the straw-like shafts, you see that there are tiny pores as well
- Bugscope Teamthis is pretty cool stuff but also a mystery to us
- Bugscope Teamthose images look great
- Bugscope Teamwe are missing our entomologist today
- Bugscope Teamnice driving jackie, you are doing very well with the new controls!
- Bugscope Teamsee the tiny pores?
- TeacherJasmine wonders what the lines are?
Bugscope TeamThe lines are just creases in the setae, part of the texture. You can see in-between them there are rows of pores, tiny little holes. It's hard to say exactly what the function is, but you'll see many more fascinatingly complex patterns like these, especially on the spider setae preset
- Bugscope Teamthe lines show that the little tubes are fluted, and they seem to provide support so that the tubes do not bend much
- 12:18 pm
- Bugscope Teamif they were smooth they would fold much more easily; with their fluted shape they are more rigid
- Bugscope Teami wonder if they are fluted on the inside of the tube as well? to create more surface area?
- Bugscope TeamWhat makes them think the bug is flat?
- Bugscope Teamwhen we see a piece of the bug it does look flat, doesn't it?
- Bugscope Teamit shifted a little
- Bugscope TeamThe pollen grain is peeking into the frame up at the top there
- Bugscope Teamcheck out the cool ball of pollen near the top of the image...
- Teacherthey're all excited about this pollen!!!
- Bugscope Teamthese are tenent setae. we call tiny hair-like structures 'setae,' which is pronounced see-tee
- Bugscope Teamtenent is like the Spanish tener, to hold
- Bugscope Teamthe tenent setae are found on some insects' limbs, at the end, to help them stick to things as they walk
- Bugscope Teamwhen you see a ladybug crawling up a wall and such, they are using their tenent setae
- Bugscope Teamif you take the mag a tiny bit down you can see where we are with relation to the claw, for example
- TeacherSamantha wants to know what all those pointy things around the pollen are?
Bugscope TeamMany insects have a pad of these very orderly arranged setae called a pulvillus. The pulvillus is located on their legs right near the foot and it is usually sticky, allowing them to climb walls
- Bugscope Teamthe pointy things are like little suction cups so the ladybug can crawl on vertical surfaces
- 12:24 pm
- Bugscope Teamthey look like tiny calla lilies
- Bugscope TeamAlex brings up a good point about the tiny patterns of lines: Everything almost certainly has a benefit to the insect. I would guess the pattern has something to do with keeping the hairs from sticking to each other
- TeacherWhat are the threadlike things on the pollen
Bugscope Teamthat is so it will stick easily to whatever insect comes upon it
- Bugscope Teamas a fact about ladybugs--people in the past have used ladybugs as treatment for toothaches and measles
- Bugscope Teamouch, my tooth hurts. can i have a ladybug please!
- Bugscope Teamthat's bec ause they taste so bad that people forget about their toothaches for a minute
- Bugscope Teammy cat pukes up ladybugs all the time
- TeacherAlana wants to know what the lines are?
- Bugscope Teamthis looks like text; maybe it's German and Claudi can read it
Bugscope TeamScott, sorry I missedf it. The internethere is VERY slow...
- Bugscope Teamthese are the openings in the ribbed structure of a butterfly scale
- Bugscope Teamthe scale is much like a feather is to a bird
- Bugscope Teamgetting better...
- Bugscope Teamooh that is pretty good
- Bugscope Teamnice focus'ing JTG!
- Bugscope Teamit looks like Roman numerals
- TeacherBrandon wants to know what the little lines are?
Bugscope Teamhi brandon! the little lines between the ribs on the scale are there to hold the shape of the scale and to provide support. and we believe the holes are there to provide some air-ation, as well as reduced weight, so the scale is lighter and more able to provide flying capability
Bugscope TeamThis pattern is very efficient at being strong yet light, an obvious requirement for something that wants to fly
- Bugscope Teamthese are very small features that trap air
- Bugscope Teamthey have a lot of surface area but little weight
- Bugscope TeamD'Oh.
- 12:29 pm
- Bugscope TeamClaudi this is the German writing now.
- Bugscope Teambut we can't read what it says
- Bugscope Teamaeration
- TeacherHaley wants to know what the 'furrry' stuff is?
- Bugscope TeamI'm not sure what you mean by furry stuff, can you point it out better?
- Bugscope Teamhmm, what furry stuff? we aren't sure what you are refering to?
- Teacherstuff on sides?
- Bugscope TeamBy the way, if you look at the scale bar in the lower-left corner of the image you'll see that a bacterium, which is about 2 microns long, would appear about an inch and a half big at this magnification
- Bugscope TeamNow we're got a view of a bunch of mouthparts
- Bugscope Teamant mouths always look like there is some other bug inside
- TeacherOliviaa wants to know what the lines on the outside of it ARE?
Bugscope TeamThe thin little lines are called "setae", they're somewhat analogous to hair, but can also be specialized for sensory purposes
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the 'tines' of one of the jaws, where it looks like the end of a fork
- Bugscope Teamthere are lots and lots of setae on its face
- Teacherthey think it looks like hair!
- Bugscope Teamyes it looks very much like hair
- 12:34 pm
- Bugscope Teamsetae pretty much is hair--insect hair
- Bugscope Teamthe hairs are often mechanosensory -- they are used to sense the surroundings of the insect
- TeacherSamantha wants to now what all the folds are
Bugscope TeamAnt mouths have jaws, but they also have many other little limbs used for handling and swallowing food: a lot of the jobs we use our tongue for.
- Bugscope TeamAlthough they're frequently not visible with the naked eye, setae are preset on almost every kind of bug we've ever looked at, even the ones that appear shiny and smooth without a microscope
- Bugscope Teamthe setae (hairs) are used, often, like whiskers on a rat or a cat
- Bugscope Teambecause insects have an exoskeleton they do not have nerve ending in their skin (since they do not have skin)
- Bugscope Teaminsects don't have nerves in their skin, they don't have skin at all in fact. so the hairs (setae) are there to help sense the surroundings, and report that info back to the underside of the exoskeleton, where the nerves lie...
- TeacherColleen wants to know what the things that look like legs are
Bugscope TeamThose are the other limbs it uses for eating, but they're all folded up at the moment
- Bugscope Teamsome of the tiny setae have a chemosensory function -- they can sense smells
- Bugscope Teamso the insect can taste its food
- Bugscope Teamthe things that look like legs are palps that help manipulate and taste food items
- TeacherThe spider setae look even more hairy....why?
Bugscope TeamSpider setae are the most complex and pretty setae I've ever come across. My theory is that the complex shapes are necessary to handle the sticky spider silk without getting stuck to it. This is because the setae near the spinnerettes are typically way more complex than the rest of the body
- Bugscope Teamspider setae are very beautiful
- Bugscope Teamspiders need to be able to sense vibration, and the setae are like tiny antennae tuned to vibrations
- TeacherJames thinks it looks like a tree bark on the body of the spider!
Bugscope Teamit does!
- 12:39 pm
- Bugscope Teamspiders often have soft bodies, unlike insects
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that if the spider ate a lot it could get bigger and the ridges would open out and become smooth
- TeacherMeagan wants to know what those dots are?
Bugscope TeamMost likely the dots are bits of dust, especially if the insect was critical point dried
- Bugscope Teamsome of the dots may be brochosomes, if the spider was eating leafhoppers, for example
- Bugscope Teamwe could go up in mag and see
- Bugscope Teamleafhoppers produce tiny soccerball like particles called brochosomes, and no other insect does that
- Teacherwhat's a bochosome?
Bugscope TeamBrochosomes are tiny waxy particles generated by the leafhopper insect. It excretes them almost like a liquid (because they're so small), and rubs them all over itself. They are used as a water repellant!
- Teacherwhat kind of spider is it?
- 12:45 pm
- Bugscope Teamas Chas says, however, this may be precipitate left from the critical point drying phase of sample prep; the tiny objects may be salts, for example
- Bugscope TeamI am sorry we do not know what kind of spider this is today
- Bugscope TeamThe spear-like objects are more setae! These ones are distributed between the individual facets of the compound eye
Bugscope Teamthey allow the fly to navigate through the air more easily than without having them
- Teacherwhat are the sticklike things?
Bugscope TeamThose are the setae. They are usually only found on the eyes of insects who depend heavily on their sight
- TeacherLast question: why are there a lot ot eyes?
Bugscope TeamIt's easier to design compound eyes that have a nearly 360 degree field of view, as many flying insects do. If you've ever tried to swat a fly by hand, you know the benefit of having wrap-around vision
- 12:50 pm
- Bugscope Teamthe shape of these setae shows us that they are rigid and sensitive to the wind; they give the fruitfly information about windspeed and direction so that it can fly better
- Bugscope Teamif you look at the brain of a fruit fly you can see that a large percentage of it is devoted to visual processing -- to decoding what the eyes see
- TeacherWHAT ELSE IS BETWEEN THE EYES?
Bugscope TeamBesides those setae, very little. These compound eye facets look circular, but you frequently see them in a hexagonal arrangement so that they can be spaced even more closely together
- Bugscope Teamwell, those setae, and sometimes we see bacteria
- TeacherWe have to get ready for The Grinch, so thanks so much for having us!!!
- Bugscope Teamok have fun, and i hope you had fun with us!
- Bugscope Teamthank you for joining us, you were fantastic!
- Bugscope Teamgreat driving and focusing
- Bugscope TeamGlad to have you back for another session, have a good holiday!
- Bugscope Teamall the images and chat are saved, and stored on your bugscope member page: http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/members/2007-075
- Teacheri can't drive a catr tyo well, so my husband won' tt believe I drove a microscope
- Bugscope Teamyou can tell your husband that women are better drivers than men, that fact is very well documented...
- Bugscope TeamAnd you can tell him this microscope probably costs about 20x more than the car!
- Bugscope Teamand as far as driving a scope, you are even better!
- 12:55 pm
- Bugscope TeamThank You Jackie. Please consider coming back next year.
- Bugscope Teamokay, going to close up the session in a couple minutes...
- Bugscope TeamThanks Alex and Cate and Chas and Claudi
- Bugscope Teamlaters
- Bugscope Team~no German tilda quick fix?
- Bugscope Teamlaters
- Bugscope Teamthe key you actually need to hit is the single quote, not the tilda
- Bugscope Teamis there a single quote on that keyboard?
- Bugscope Teamsession disabled, rxl stopped, session locked.
- Bugscope Teamnice session everyone. see you later.