Connected on 2008-10-22 08:00:00
from , ME, US
- 7:45 am
- Bugscope TeamHi Karin!
- TeacherGood Morning!
- TeacherWhat are we looking at?
- Bugscope Teamthis is a sphere from I don't know where, on the claw of a horntail wasp
- 7:51 am
- Bugscope Teamlooks like it is about 40 micrometers in diameter
- TeacherWhat is a horntailed wasp?
- Bugscope Teamthey're wasps that live in wood
- Bugscope Teamboth the females and males have stinger-like tails but they are said not to sting or bite
- Bugscope Teamthe tail on the female would be an ovipositor -- I imagine it lays its eggs in wood
- Bugscope Teamplease try driving around, if you would like
- TeacherWe can't see the second line of your reply, we can't scroll down. We are on a MacBook
- Bugscope TeamI think you will want to change your screen resolution
- Bugscope Teamthis software was written on a mac
- 7:56 am
- TeacherAll set, thanks
- Bugscope Teamhey cool!
- TeacherIs this an egg?
- Bugscope TeamI think it is just a sphere -- I don't think it came from an insect
- Bugscope Teamone of those things -- sometimes we see latex spheres like this
- Bugscope Teamfrom car tires wearing out as they drive
- TeacherDoes this wasp have horns? Can we see the horns?
- Bugscope Teamif you click on preset 3, you can drive from there down to the horns
- Bugscope Teamcool -- that is a spiracle on the thorax of the horntail
- Bugscope Teamif you now take the magnification lower it will be easy to drive south
- Bugscope Teamgood!
- 8:02 am
- Bugscope Teamthis may be the upper abdomen -- maybe I was wrong about it being the thorax
- Bugscope Teamif you use the click to drive feature don't forget to click to stop as well
- TeacherIt looks lik a crab claw.
- Bugscope Teamyou could also advance more deliberately south using the click to center
- Bugscope Teamit does look very much like a crab claw
- Bugscope Teaminsects and crabs have exoskeletons
- Bugscope Teamthe shell
- Bugscope Teamboth exoskeletons are made of chitin
- Bugscope Teamwhich is like what our fingernails are made of
- TeacherYES! We knew that!
- Bugscope Teamha
- TeacherWhat are hairs?
- Bugscope Teamthe hairs we call setae (see-tee)
- TeacherSensors?
- Bugscope Teamyes often they are sensors -- some for touch and some for smell
- TeacherSmell with hair?!?!
- 8:07 am
- Bugscope Teamyes some of the setae have little pits in their tips that sense chemicals in the air, which is what smelling is
- Bugscope Teamthose are called chemoreceptors
- Bugscope Teamthe ones that sense touch are called mechanoreceptors
- TeacherHow do they breathe?
- Bugscope Teamthey breathe through the spiracles, like we see above in this view
- Bugscope Teamthey can open and close the spiracles, so they can hold their breath if they need to
- Bugscope Teamit is interesting that the spiracles we saw were closed
- Bugscope Teamthis is a different wasp, and this is its stinger
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the little ridges that help it cut
- TeacherWhat type of wasp?
- Bugscope TeamHello all, sorry I am a little late!
- Bugscope TeamThis is a small wasp but I am not sure what kind it is.
- Bugscope TeamHi Annie!
- TeacherWhat part of the body is the stinger on?
- Bugscope TeamThe class would like to know how insects breathe, and I told them through the spiracles but I did not tell them about the inner components of the resp. system
- TeacherHi Annie
- Bugscope Teamthe stinger is at the tip of the abdomen
- 8:12 am
- TeacherIs that the rear end?
Bugscope Teamyes thats right
- TeacherDoes it come out after it stings you?
- Bugscope Teamyes this wasp can sting repeatedly
- TeacherOUCH
- Bugscope TeamOk, well, insects breathe through spiracles that are located on each segment of the body (in most insects). The spiracles are like our nostrils and they are connected to tubes called trachaea. The trachaea divide into smaller and smaller tubes (just like ours do) until they are small enough to provide oxygen molecules directly to the individual cells in the insect's body.
- Bugscope TeamThanks, Annie!
- Bugscope TeamAnnie is our entomologist.
- Bugscope TeamThat is different from us, where our blood picks up oxygen in the lungs and transports it around our bodies. Insect "blood" doesn't carry oxygen (usually).
- Bugscope TeamNo problem
- TeacherThanks, good detail.
- Bugscope TeamThat's why I am here ;)
- Bugscope Teaminsect blood is called hemolymph
- Bugscope TeamBack to the wasp, if we decrease the magnification, I can maybe identify it (maybe!)
- Bugscope Teaminsects do not have a circulatory system like ours
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that the stinger was sticking out about 300 microns, or micrometers. That is 0.3 millimeters.
- Bugscope Teamthe stinger looks so tiny from here
- TeacherIs this a harmful stinger? Will it die after it stings you?
- 8:18 am
- Bugscope Teamwasps do not die after they sting you, unless you swat them successfully
- Bugscope Teamthey can sting again, happily
- Bugscope TeamKarin if you would like to drive north you can see the head.
- Bugscope TeamBut you may also choose from among the presets.
- TeacherHow do I go north?
- Bugscope TeamI put the dragonfly head in this morning.
- Bugscope Teamif you activate click to drive, you can put your cursor on the upper part of the screen and click
- Bugscope Teamthe trick is to remember to click to stop
- Bugscope Teamyou are heading north!
- Bugscope Teamnow we see mouthparts
- Bugscope Teamand the eyes
- Bugscope Teamoops too far!
- Bugscope Teamthe salt territories
- Bugscope Teamyou found some salt
- Bugscope Teamthe eye!
- Bugscope TeamI see the edge of a wing now
- 8:23 am
- TeacherWe want an eye
- Bugscope Teamto get a little more control you could try click to center as well
- Bugscope Teamnow to he right
- Bugscope Teamthe jaws!
- Bugscope Teamwow that is a wide wasp head
- Bugscope Teamhammerhead
- Bugscope Teamgood job driving!
- Bugscope Teamas Cate says you can use click to center; it is easier once you are close
- TeacherI can't control this very well, we are moving to the dragonfly.
- Bugscope Teamwhoops you drove off the edge!
- Bugscope Teamthere is a screw
- Bugscope Teamdeus ex machina
- Bugscope Teamthis is an owlfly larva
- Bugscope Teamit has those long nasty snapping jaws
- Teacherdoes it have ears?
- Bugscope Teamowlflies are related to dragonflies (they look more like them as adults)
- Teacherwhy is the owlfly called an owlfly?
Bugscope Teamas adults they have big round eyes and someone decided it looked like an owl because of them
- Teacherwe can't see the slide very well.
- 8:28 am
- Teacherwe may move to another preset
- Bugscope TeamActually, owlflies are not related to dragonflies at all, although Cate is right, that they do look like dragonfly adults. They are actually related to lacewings!
- Bugscope TeamOwlflies are also active at night, just like owls!
- Bugscope Teamthis is a dragonfly wing
- Bugscope Teamyou can see little spines on the ridges and a lot of scratches on the wing itself
- Bugscope Teamwings are made out of chitin, the same stuff as our fingernails
- Teacherwhere does the owlfly live?
- TeacherAre fingernails must have more layers and be stronger though, right?
- Bugscope TeamOwlflies are found in warmer places in the US. Probably from middle Missouri, Oklahoma, etc., and south, and in most parts of California. They are also found in the tropics. They live in forest areas.
- Bugscope Teamyes their wings are like a thin layer of chitin, it is still pretty strong but not as thick as our nails
- 8:34 am
- TeacherIt looks the windows frosted in the winter. Why is that? Why are there scrapes?
- TeacherHow come in real life the wing looks so delicate and feels so delicate, while it looks quite tough here?
- Bugscope Teamit really is pretty delicate and fragile from our perspective
- TeacherWhat part of the wing is this? Is it broken?
- Bugscope TeamThe scrapes may be from its trip from the dragonflies home to the scope OR maybe from particles in the air that the wings encountered when the dragonfly was flying.
- Bugscope Teamwhen we use the electron microscope we don't see that it is really transparent
- Bugscope Teamthis is near the tip of one of the four wings
- Bugscope Teamsorry, bad punctuation: to correct from the dragonfly's home (e.g. a pond)
- TeacherWhy is there a hole in it?
- Bugscope TeamEven more bad punctuation, geez!!!
- Bugscope Teamyes it is broken -- it is very thin
- Bugscope Teamthe wing would have been more flexible when the dragonfly was alive
- Bugscope Teamless apt to break
- Bugscope Teamnow it is very dry
- Bugscope Teamscott probably poked it as well while putting it on the stub
- TeacherWhy do dragonflies need to dry out their wings before they fly?
Bugscope TeamWhen the freshly eclosed adult dragonfly climbs out of the water, it has to dry its wings so that they are light enough and aerodynamic enough to fly. In the mornings you will often see dragonflies sunning themselves---they are doing that so that they can warm up. Insects are cold blooded, as you probably know.
- TeacherIs this OUR dragonfly?
- Bugscope Teamyes I tried to be careful, but
- Bugscope Teamyes this is your dragonfly
- 8:39 am
- TeacherHow do the dragonflies know when their wings are done drying and what happens if they dry too long?
- Bugscope Teamthey probably can't dry too long when they are alive, but when they die they become more dry, more fragile
- Bugscope Teamwhen they are alive they have hemolymph pumping through the larger veins that we see
- TeacherThanks so much, Annie!!
- Bugscope TeamNo problem! It takes me a little while to answer, because I write so much!
- Bugscope Teamthe flea!
- Bugscope Teamits eyespot is near the middle of the view we have now
- TeacherYes, the flea! Are those sharp things its teeth?
- Bugscope TeamNope, fleas have sucking mouthparts--the mouth is right under the antennae
- Bugscope Teamthe things it bites with are to the left, mostly out of the view
- Bugscope Teamthose sharp things are something similar to a beard
- 8:44 am
- TeacherHow do fleas make you itch so much? Is it because they bite?
- Bugscope Teamyes as Annie says -- see the antennae at the top of the view we have now?
- Bugscope TeamThe sharp things are part of the flea's cuticle--they are spiny to help them stick in the hairs of their hosts
- Bugscope Teampartly because they bite and partly I think because they cruise around on your skin - they are restless
- Bugscope TeamFleas are very very flat for that same reason, to keep their hosts from removing them easily
- TeacherWhat are the hairs in the ears? Are they setae?
- Bugscope TeamThey do look like ears---I am not sure exactly what they are. Let me look it up.
- Bugscope Teamyes they have tiny setae there -- probably to keep dust out of that area
- Bugscope Team here we see part of a claw and little pulvillus pads-- pads of tenent setae
- TeacherIs this one of our flies?
- Bugscope Teamthis is on a housefly
- TeacherWhy so hairy on the claw? Also setae?
Bugscope Teamthe claws themselves arent very hairy. we are seeing the underside of the "foot". The pads of setae are there so the fly can walk on walls
- TeacherIs 'claw' the term entomologists use for this part?
- Bugscope Teamthis is one we had -- I am sorry I didn't have time to put any of your flies on the stub this morning
- Teacherno worries, you picked some great specimens! :)
- Bugscope Teamthe forearms of insects are called tarsi
- 8:49 am
- TeacherThis claw doesn't look sharp. Is that right?
- Bugscope Teamit is hard to see the individual claws here but they are sharp
- Bugscope TeamI am sorry, I am having trouble finding out what that little area on the flea is...
- Bugscope Teamthis was a dusty looking fly. we are probably seeing a lot of those dust/dirt particles
- Bugscope Teamthat is the tip of one of the claws, poiting toward us
- Bugscope Teamit doesn't look so sharp at high mag
- TeacherWhat do they use it for?
- Bugscope Teamoop I should've written 'pointing'
- Bugscope Teamthey can grasp things with their claws
- Bugscope Teamand they have six of them
- Bugscope Teamsix sets of claws
- TeacherJust like legs. One student is wondering if all insects have ears on their legs? She heard praying mantises do.
Bugscope TeamNot all insects have ears. Typically, only insects that make noise or that communicate by singing complicated songs have ears. So, grasshoppers and crickets have ears (some have ears on their legs). Mantids actually have an ear in the middle of their chests. Some insects have ears on their abdomens. It is interesting, because all insects can sense vibrations (with the hairs on their bodies) but not all insects have ears.
- TeacherDoes that mean 12 claws?
- Bugscope Teamthere is a tendon inside the tarsus -- inside the arm -- that pulls to open and close the claws
- TeacherBack to dragonflies for a minute. What is the larget dragonfly you have studied?
- Bugscope Teamthis was a pretty big one for us
- 8:55 am
- TeacherWe're curious about this slide. What is a fascicle?
- Bugscope Teamwhen we work with insects we choose smaller ones or we will get to see only portions of them
- Bugscope Teamthe fascicle is the part of the mosquito that pierces your skin and sucks up your blood
- TeacherThanks, Annie. This clears up some information for us.
- Bugscope TeamI am sorry, but I was unable to find out what that little pit on the flea does or even is. It looks like it might be unique to that type of flea.
- TeacherOh my, Scott! Some of us thought that was the proboscis. This must be sharp then.
- Bugscope Teamyes it is very sharp -- you can see a few of the sawteeth on the edge of this one
- Bugscope Teamso that is the proboscis, and what we see are both the sheath, with scales on it, and the fascicle tip, which has all of the cutting stylets on it
- Bugscope Teamthe fascicle slips out of the sheath when the mosquito bites
- TeacherIt looks like there are even hairs on the bloodsucking part. Are there two fascicles on this insect?
- 9:00 am
- TeacherHow do insects go to the bathroom? Do they?
Bugscope TeamAll insects go to the bathroom. They have a gut with a mouth, and an opening at the other end, where wastes come out. Different types of insects have different types of poop depending on what they eat. Caterpillar poop is dry and round, insects that suck plant sap have liquid wastes
- Bugscope Teamthe sort of furry part is the sheath, and it is actually split on one side to allow the fascicle to come out
- TeacherHow fast does it come out?
- Bugscope Teamit slides right out
- TeacherHow long have you been entomologists? Is it fun?
Bugscope TeamI have been in graduate school since 2003. I will graduate in May and then I will have a PhD
- TeacherWe probably only have another minute or so before we need to go.
- Bugscope Teamwe are entomologists by default, except for Annie
- Bugscope Teambut this is a lot of fun for us
- Bugscope Teamscott and i may not be entomologists, but by doing bugscope and working with annie, we learn a lot about insects and it is a lot of fun
- Bugscope Teaminsect poop is called 'frass'
- TeacherTHANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!! WE appreciate all of the information that you shared with us today.
- Bugscope TeamThank You!
- 9:05 am
- Bugscope Teamannie doesnt want to leave ever
- Bugscope TeamIt is lots of fun to be an entomologist. Insects are really interesting, and I get to work with interesting people and travel and work in the field.
- Bugscope TeamWe look forward to seeing you again
- Bugscope TeamHa ha Cate
- Bugscope Teamthank you for all your questions and your insects, sorry we didn't get to use them all
- TeacherTake care!
- Bugscope TeamAnnie can leave as long as she agrees to check in on bugscope when she has time
- Bugscope TeamBye!
- Bugscope Teamyou can access your chat and images from today at anytime by going to: http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/members/2008-084/
- Bugscope TeamOf course!
- Bugscope Teamover and out
