Crest Middle School
Session 2007-087

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Transcript

Connected on 2008-01-30 12:00:00 from Shelby, NC, US

• 1:14 pm
• Bugscope Teamhi beverly
• Bugscope Teamhi Beverly
• Bugscope Teamhe there
• Bugscope Teamhey*

• Bugscope Teamthese are the spinnerets on a spider, those are what the spider web (spik) come out of

• Bugscope TeamI think Alex was trying to say silk.

• Bugscope TeamBeverly you can have control of the microscope for the next 45 minutes if you would like.
• Studentokay - what is the triangle shaped part? is it part of the spinneret?

• Bugscope TeamWe have never seen that part before. Usually there are just four spinnerets.
• 1:20 pm
• Bugscope Teamthose are an arrangement of setae attached to maybe a spinneret
• Bugscope TeamIt is interesting that we see things, potentially, that few people have seen before.

• Bugscope TeamActually, probably, a small number of people in the world have described all of these features but we don't have the info from them.
• Bugscope TeamFor example -- these things on this larva we have no idea about.

• Bugscope TeamThey are beautiful but this is a larva and I am sure someone knows what they are for sure but we don't.

• Bugscope TeamIt is kind of embarrassing but it is also fun and part of science.
• Bugscope TeamThese are related to ant lions.
• Bugscope TeamAnd they seem to have snapping jaws with trigger hairs similar to those of trap jaw ants, which we have spent a little time with.

• Bugscope TeamTrapjaw ants are generally in our experience very small.

• Bugscope Teamthis is the mouth of the whirligig water beetle.

• Bugscope TeamIt has eyes that can see above and below the water, divided into upper and lower lobes.

• Bugscope TeamThe hairlike things we see on the 'forearms' of the beetle are called tenent setae.

• Bugscope Teamthe odd thing in here is the antenna, from something else.

• Bugscope Teamthis is the mouth, and you can imagine that it has a sort of filtering function.
• 1:25 pm
• Bugscope TeamIt has two sets of cutting jaws, apparently.
• Studentwhat is the oblong shape sticking out in the foreground?
• Bugscope Teamthat is one of the mandibular palps.

• Bugscope TeamIt is a modified appendage, in pairs, one of the mouthparts that we think helps direct the food to the mouth, and to taste it.
• Bugscope TeamA lot of such palps have chemosensors at their tips where we cannot see them now.

• Bugscope Teamthis is a pollen grain, like ragweed pollen.

• Bugscope Teamwe do not have fireants. we would love to have someone send us some.

• Bugscope Teamnow you can see where we were -- in the mouth of the spider.
• Bugscope Teamon a normal day we do not get to do this -- we train people to use microscopes for their research.
• Bugscope Teamthis is one of the microscopes, of course
• Bugscope Teammost people do not look at insects

• Bugscope Teamthey are working with samples made of silicon, or carbon nanotubes, or a huge variety of other things.
• Bugscope Teamthis is one of the most bizarrre insects we have seen for awhile

• Bugscope Teamand it is a larva
• Bugscope Teambut it is cool that it has six legs -- some insect larva do not
• 1:30 pm
• Bugscope Teamit seems to have trigger hairs that actuate the jaw movement
• Bugscope TeamI do!
• Bugscope Teamand it looks like there may be ducts for poison.
• Bugscope TeamYes I should have said Annie does look at insects.
• StudentOkay thanks! We enjoyed it - I hope to schedule another session later. We have to go for the day.
• Bugscope TeamShe works with Cerambycid beetles.
• Bugscope TeamThank You Beverly.
• Bugscope Teamthanks we hope you liked bugscope
• Bugscope TeamI use the scope to look at insects
• Bugscope TeamWe are going to keep the 'scope running in this mode for a potential 2 p.m. session with the California Science Center.
• Bugscope TeamAnnie if you feel like driving at all you are welcome.
• Bugscope TeamI am trying to finish reading a manuscript, so I don't need to use the scope
• 1:35 pm
• Bugscope TeamNo problem AR. Thank you for helping today. It is good to have you on board, as always.

• Bugscope TeamI can stick around until the Cal Science Center session

• Bugscope TeamI will just be reading for a while
• Bugscope TeamJust keep your eyes open, I guess. Multitasking. About which there is an article in the Atlantic this month, and on line.
• Bugscope TeamThe idea is that multitasking is making us dumber.
• Bugscope Teamit is making me dumber for sure
• Bugscope Teamhttp://www.theatlantic.com/doc/by/walter_kirn
• Bugscope TeamI think that will work. But it will just be another way to spread your thoughts thin.
• Bugscope Teambrb
• 1:41 pm

• 1:49 pm
• Bugscope Teamsession disaboled, rxl stopped