Connected on 2009-09-17 12:45:00
from State College, PA, US
- 12:14 pm
- Bugscope Teampumping down -- taking its time to reach vacuum
- Bugscope Teamthe samples, although they seem very dry, must be juicier than we'd thought
- Bugscope Team5.0 x 10-4
- Bugscope Team4.5...
- Bugscope Teamthe magic number is 1.3
- 12:22 pm
- Bugscope Team2.3 x 10-4
- Bugscope Team2.0
- Bugscope Team1.8
- Bugscope Team1.6
- 12:29 pm
- Bugscope Team1.5
- Bugscope Team1.4
- Bugscope Team1.3
- 12:39 pm
- 12:44 pm
- Bugscope Teaminteresting flat places on the tarsu
- Bugscope Teamsimilar to this -- the pulvillus
- Bugscope Teamtarsi
- Bugscope Teamhi!
- Bugscope TeamHello!
- Bugscope Teamwelcome to bugscope 2009!
- Bugscope TeamWelcome to Bugscope!
- TeacherRadio Park room 3 is online
- Bugscope Teamcool
- TeacherWhat are we seeing?
- Bugscope Teamwe are finishing up presets, we'll be done in a sec
- Bugscope TeamIt took longer than we expected for these to pump down, so we are running a bit late setting up
- Bugscope Teamthis is one of the cerci
- Bugscope Teamthey are different in these kind of roaches
- Bugscope Teamnow it looks like Cate is imaging one of the heads
- Bugscope Teamonce we are done we will give control over to you
- Bugscope Teamshortly
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the presets to the right of the chat box
- Bugscope Teamyou will be able to choose from among the presets, to get started, or you can drive around on your own
- Bugscope Teamcompound eye!
- Bugscope Teamroaches are often very smooth, streamlined, not super specialized since they can live in many diverse environments
- 12:49 pm
- Bugscope Teamjust a couple more presets and we'll be ready
- Bugscope Teamthanks for being patient with us, sometimes the scope needs extra time for the vacuum to come down
- Bugscope Teamor not super specialized because they must be able to live in diverse environments, maybe that is a better way to phrase it
- Bugscope Teamtouching the cerci, or cercopods, often results in an automatic fleeing response
- Bugscope Teamoksy, we are done with presets
- Bugscope Teami just unlocked the session, you should see controls for the scope on the right now: magnify, navigation, focus and adjust
- 12:54 pm
- Bugscope Teamthis is one of the cercopods
- TeacherWhy does it have hairs?
- Bugscope Teamthe hairs are often sensory
- Bugscope Teamall insects have those hairs, they are called setae, and the help the insect to sense its environment
- Bugscope Teaminsects are a lot hairier than they seem.
- Bugscope Teamsetae is pronounced sea-tea
- Bugscope Teammechanosensory like cat or rat whiskers, thermosensory, for hot/cold sensing, and chemosensory, for smelling
- Bugscope TeamThey are connected to nerves underneath the exoskeleton to send feedback about the environment- like temperature, touch, taste/smell
- TeacherWe think that it is interesting that they can taste with their cerci instead of their mouth. Can they also taste with their mouth?
- Bugscope TeamI am sorry I did not mean to imply that they were neccessarily tasting with their cerci
- Bugscope TeamI meant to say that that is what the setae are capable of on an insect
- 1:00 pm
- Bugscope Teamthese setae are more for touch- They can tell is something is coming up behind it
- Bugscope TeamThat's how they can react so fast and run to get out of trouble
- Bugscope Teamnow we see one of the claws, and in between is the pulvillus, which is probably deflated a bit,
- TeacherWhat does the pulvillus do?
- Bugscope Teammany insects that can climb on vertical surfaces have a pad or a few pads, called a pulvillus, that have tenent setae on them, that allow them to stick to walls, for example
- Bugscope Teamif you go up close you may find out more about this one
- Bugscope TeamIt's usually covered in oils, which is what makes it sticky.
- Bugscope Teamthis seems more like a sticky pad, and it has a kind of suction cup appearance
- Bugscope Teamlisten to Rob...
- Bugscope TeamIf you have a piece of glass and a good microscope, you can actually see insect "footprints" from the pulvillis as they walk around.
- Bugscope TeamThe residue from the oil is left behind with each step.
- TeacherWe were wondering why the cockroaches are so sticky?
- Bugscope TeamRob is an entomology grad student who has logged on to help us today.
- 1:05 pm
- Bugscope TeamI'm not really sure. I haven't had too much experience with sticky cockroaches!
- TeacherHi, Rob. We're glad that you're here to help us. We are interested in the oil
- Bugscope Teamif you were not able to stick, assuming you were a cockroach, you could be sliding around all of the time
- Bugscope Teamthe trick is to be able to stick when you wish but also to move quickly when you wish
- TeacherPatrick think that we have oils on our skin, are they like the ones on the cockroach.
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that some insects rest their weight on more proximal tarsi when they walk -- not the terminal or distal tarsi
- Bugscope TeamYeah! It's the same idea. Our oils aren't as useful, but they are chemically similar.
- TeacherAre the molds like germs? Are the molds harmful?
Bugscope TeamMost of what we see here are probably harmless for the insects. But there are molds and fungus that can enter through holes in the insect's body and cause infections.
- Bugscope Teammold spores around the base of a seta
- Bugscope Teamthey are harmful in a way, but also helpful -- if things did not rot we would be over our heads in dead stuff
- TeacherAre the molds harmful to people when we hold them?
Bugscope TeamI would say that they are always present, in the air for example, and on other things we touch.
- Bugscope TeamWe actually use molds and fungi to control pests. It's much better than using pesticides.
- 1:11 pm
- Bugscope Teamso they are likely not a huge problem when we handle critters like these
- Bugscope Teamthey look very much like pollen but are generally smaller and less spikey
- TeacherIs this a male or female antenna?
Bugscope Teamthis is one of the dried roach antennae
Bugscope TeamIn some insects, it's easy to tell males and females by looking at the antennae, but unfortunately roaches are not one of these insects. ;)
- Bugscope TeamWe aren't sure which is male or female
- Bugscope Teamsome of the setae we see here help the insect sense how bent its antennae really are
- Bugscope Teamwas the fresh roach the female and the older dried roach the male?
- Bugscope Teamfor hissing cockroaches: Males have large horns on the front part of their bodies, directly behind their head. They also have hairy antennaes. Females are smoother in appearance, possessing only small bumps. They have smooth antennaes.
- 1:16 pm
- Bugscope TeamThe fresh antenna we have on here looks more hairy than this one. So I think this might belong to a female.
- TeacherThe fresh antennae were from a male and female. We were hoping to see a difference. We thought from our observations that the male had more hairs than the female.
Bugscope TeamYou're probably on to something. In a lot of insects, the males have more hairs so that they can more easily smell and taste the females.
- Bugscope Teamoh that is my fault -- I am sorry -- I forgot that we had discussed this.
- Bugscope Teamthis one looks more hairy
- Bugscope Teamthe kind of setae that are chemosensory often have a tiny pore at the tip
- TeacherDo you know why the antenna have sections?
Bugscope TeamWell, all the parts of the insect are divided into sections. It's how it can bend while still being armored.
- Bugscope Teambut it is not always setae that are responsible for smelling or tasting -- sometimes it is placoid sensilla
- Bugscope Teamor much smaller setae that resemble taste buds...
- Bugscope Teamsee how there are different sizes of setae here?
- Bugscope Teamsmall ones, and pores, and larger ones...
- TeacherWe can see black holes in the antenna. Do you know what they are?
Bugscope TeamThey are where setae broke off.
- 1:22 pm
- TeacherThat is just what Aaron suggested.
- Bugscope Teamso that hole goes underneath the exoskeleton, to nerves underneath... pretty cool huh?
- Bugscope Teamgood guess Aaron!
- Bugscope Teamthese are palps, which are like accessory mouthparts
- Bugscope Teamthey are extra legs that help the roach feed
- Bugscope Teambut they're not really legs -- that is we do not count them as legs
- TeacherWhat are we seeing here?
Bugscope TeamThe fiinger-like things are palps, which are mouth parts insects use to taste or manipulate its food
- TeacherHow do they work?
Bugscope Teamwhen you watch the insect eating, the palps help direct food toward the mouth; they are also often chemosensory, and as Cate says they can help the insect taste what it might be eating
- TeacherWe are seeing setae on everything. We are wondering if there are setae on the armor of abdomen?
Bugscope Teamyou can drive to the spiracle and look for setae near it, on the abdominal segments
Bugscope TeamLike Scot says, you never know where you're going to find setae. You'll just have to look!
- 1:27 pm
- Bugscope Teamno setae on the surface of the compound eye
- Bugscope Teambut that is not true of all insects
- Bugscope Teamfruit flies have little bristle-like setae between the ommatidia on their compound eyes
- Bugscope Teamthe individual ommatidia are hard to make out here
- Bugscope Teamthey are very smooth on the surface of roach, grasshopper, cricket, and praying mantis eyes
- Bugscope Teamthis is one of the setae that Cate found this morning
- Bugscope Teaminsects can close their setae when they want to hold their breath
- 1:33 pm
- Bugscope Teamoops I meant their *spiracles*
- Bugscope Teamcan we go to a lower mag here and look around?
- TeacherHow does the spiracle work?
Bugscope TeamIt is a breathing hole for insects- much like our nose. Sometimes you can even see little hairs in it. They can open and close when needed. They are connected to the insect version of lungs.
- TeacherDo you mean spiracles or setae?
Bugscope Teamspiracles are the openings to the tracheae -- to the air-collecting ducts through which insects breathe
- TeacherTell us more about spiracles and hissing
- Teachersure
- 1:39 pm
- Bugscope Teamsetae are the hairlike structures
- Bugscope Teamspiracles are holes on the side of the abdomen, and air goes into these spiracles and provide nutrients from the air. they don't have lungs like humans do, however, so they can't breath in and out, at least not like we can.
- Bugscope TeamThey hiss by forcefully expelling air out of the second pair of spiracles on the abdomen.
- Bugscope TeamThere are some lung-like adaptations in some insects. Grasshoppers, for instance, will pump their abdomens like a bellows to force air in and out.
- TeacherSince you mentioned lungs, do they have hearts and blood?
Bugscope TeamIn a way. We call it 'hemolymph' instead of blood, and there is a muscle called a heart that moves it around in the body.
- Bugscope Teamsetae, microsetae, trichae, microtrichae, spines, and bristles are all hairlike structures, and some of those terms are used interchangeably, sometimes.
- Bugscope Teaminsects have an open circulatory system, unlike ours
- TeacherAre there veins?
- Bugscope Teamso the hemolymph flows freely inside of the body
- Bugscope TeamNope, no veins.
- Bugscope TeamAlso, insect blood carries no oxygen, just nutrients. That's because insects get their air from the spiracles.
- TeacherDo they brains?
Bugscope TeamThey do. Not particularly large ones, though.
- Bugscope Teamthey do have ducts in some cases, sort of like veins, but they are used, for example, to inflate the proboscis of a moth or butterfly with hemolymph
- 1:44 pm
- Bugscope Teamfruit fly brains are well-studied and characterized; much of the fruit fly brain is devoted to processing visual signals -- to processing what the eyes see
- TeacherThank you for showing us all the pictures and for all the information. From Room 3 at Radio Park. Bye, we need to get ready to go home. Thanks a million.
- Bugscope TeamThanks for the questions!
- Bugscope Teamthank you for using bugscope! We hope you apply again.
- Bugscope TeamThank you!
- Bugscope Teamall the chat and images are saved to your member page, don't forget to check it out: http://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2009-089
- 1:52 pm
- Bugscope Teamokay, nice session, am closing things down now
- Bugscope Teamand don't forget, all the chat and images are saved to your member page: http://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2009-089
- Bugscope Teamgood bye!
