Connected on 2011-03-07 09:30:00
from Grand Turk, Turks Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
- 8:23 am
- Bugscope Teamventing the chamber
- Bugscope Teamsample is now in 'scope and pumping down
- 8:31 am
- Bugscope Teamsample is apparently a bit juicy and taking a little while to pump down
- Bugscope TeamBut it is moving steadily toward a good vacuum
- 8:39 am
- Bugscope Team1.5 x 10-4
- Bugscope Teamwe are waiting for 1.3 x 10-4 Torr, so we are very close...
- Bugscope Teamonce we reach vacuum we will be able to quickly align the 'scope and then start making presets
- Bugscope Teamgood morning, Francisca!
- Bugscope Teamwelcome to Bugscope!
- Teachergood morning to u all too
- Teacherthankyou
- Teacherplease give us a few more minutes to settle in
- Bugscope TeamFran we will not be ready for awhile anyway -- we have yet to make the presets
- 8:47 am
- Teacherok
- Teacherwe are ready
- Teacherwe like to look at the ant first please
- TeacherI would love if u assist in operating the magnification and science names
- Teacherthankyou
- Bugscope Teamwe didn't have any ants in our collections. We need to replenish this spring/summer. We do have some wasps, which are similar. some beetles, mosquito, salt, moth, fruit fly, lady bug
- 8:52 am
- Bugscope Teamwe just need a few more minutes to set up presets. Thanks for waiting
- Teacherlady bug please
- Teacherur welcome
- Bugscope TeamFran I am sorry we have not reached it yet.
- Teacherok which do u ahve first
- Teacherhave
- Bugscope TeamFran we are surveying the sample stub so we can find suitable specimens and areas that will be of interest.
- Teacherok
- Bugscope Teamwe were scheduled to start in 35 minutes, so because you are here now we are hurrying. no problem of course; it just takes awhile
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of a wasp, which is in the Hymenoptera -- the same family as ants and bees
- Teacherdo u want us to come back at 10: 20
- Bugscope Teamand now we are looking at salt from a Wendy's restaurant
- 8:57 am
- Bugscope Team20 minutes from now would give us a better chance to have this all ready, if it works for you
- Bugscope Teamfemale mosquito!
- Bugscope Teamwe see two of the lancets, or stylets, that they use to pierce your skin
- Teacherok we will come back in 20 minutes
- Bugscope TeamCool!
- Teacherwe love to look at the lady bug and mosquito first
- Teacherwhen we return'
- Teacherthankyou
- 9:03 am
- 9:09 am
- 9:14 am
- 9:24 am
- Bugscope Teamwe are ready when you are
- Bugscope TeamYes! We are ready, Fran!
- TeacherWe are back and ready
- Teacherthanks guys
- Bugscope TeamCool!
- Teachercan u narrate and guide the slides for me please
- Bugscope TeamThis is the ladybug -- sometimes they just do not look good
- Bugscope Teamthese are not slides, you know -- these are live images from a scanning electron microscope
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of the ladybug, and it is on a bed of carbon tape
- Teacherwhich part or angle?
Bugscope Teamwe are usually looking at them from the ventral side, or from underneath
- 9:29 am
- Bugscope Teamwe will just give you a quick look at it since it is not well preserved
- Bugscope Teamladybugs are beetles- order coleoptera, from the family coccinellidae
- Bugscope Teamsometimes a specimen will look good when we put it onto the stub, but when we look up close it is terrible-looking like this
- Teacherwhich part is that?
- Teacherare bugs and beetles the same?
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that it has a pinhole through its thorax -- the 'chest and trunk' part of an insect's body
- Bugscope Teamtrue bugs are Hemiptera, and they have piercing mouthparts as well as a particular configuration of their wings and elytra -- the hard shell that protects the wings
- Bugscope Teambeetles are Coleoptera
- Bugscope Teamthere are a type of insects that are called true bugs, which are not beetles, but look similar. Beetles are another type of insect.
- Teacherwhat is the pinhole used for?
Bugscope Teamthat is where it was stuck to a board for an entymology project
- Bugscope Teamnow we are looking at the compound eye of a fruit fly
- 9:34 am
- Bugscope Teamthe Order fruit flies are in is Diptera
- Bugscope TeamDiptera is di- meaning two, and -ptera meaning wings
- Bugscope Teamthe facets of the compound eye are called ommatidia
- Bugscope Teamand fruit flies have little bristles, or setae, in between the ommatidia, that help them sense windspeed and direction
- Teacherwhat is a fruit fly?
Bugscope Teamfruit flies are those tiny annoying flies you might find around bananas or other fruit
- Bugscope Teamfruit flies are said to feed on the mold, or fungus, that grows on the surface of fruit
- Teacherhow many eyes does the fruit fly has?
Bugscope Teamthey have 2 compound eyes and 3 ocelli, which are simple eyes. That is a total of 5 eyes~
- Bugscope Teamthis is the tip of the fruit fly's sponging mouthparts, but it is a little shriveled
- Bugscope Teamnow we are looking at a Japanese beetle -- the head of the Japanese beetle
- Bugscope Teamalmost all of the specimens we put into the microscope this morning are mounted on their dorsal side -- on their 'back,' so that we can see their legs and their faces
- 9:39 am
- Teacherwhere are teh eyes?
Bugscope Teamthe eyes are streamlined into the shape of the head
- Bugscope Teamso here, next to part of the antenna and one of the palps, we see one of the eyes
- Bugscope Teamthe eye is to the left now
- Teacherwhat si the palps?
Bugscope Teampalps are little feelers that function as accessory mouthparts
- Bugscope Teamthe palps look like tiny legs or arms, and there are usually two sets: mandibular and maxillary, corresponding the jaws, but not making sense in the way our own jaws operate
- 9:45 am
- Bugscope Teamthe tips of the palps like where we are now, on one of the tips, have tiny chemosensors on them that help the insect taste its food
- Bugscope Teamkind of like tastbuds
- Bugscope Teamd'oh tastebuds
- Bugscope Teamthis is the tip of one of the palps
- Teacherare the eyes of the japanese beetle peripheral?
Bugscope Teamthey are on the periphery of the head, yes -- here they are
- Teacherwhich part is this?
- Bugscope Teamhere we can see into the antenna, where there are very sensitive chemoreceptors
- Bugscope Teaminsects rely much more on scent and smell than we do
- Bugscope Teamnow we moved to the head of a tiny parasitic wasp
- 9:50 am
- Bugscope Teamits mandibles are spread open -- you can see it mouthparts pretty well
- Bugscope Teamthis is a very hairy looking parasitic wasp
- Bugscope Teamthe palps are very long -- the things that look like little arms
- Bugscope Teamwe had an expert on parasitic wasps visit a few weeks ago
- Bugscope Teamhe told us there is a parasitic wasp for nearly every insect, and also for nearly every life stage of an insect
- Bugscope Teamparasitic wasps function by stinging their prey to immobilize it while they lay their eggs inside its cuticle
- Teacherwhat do u mean by parasitic?
Bugscope Teamthey are considered parasitic because they lay their eggs in other insects' bodies, so they feed on them like a parasite
- Bugscope Teamthey are mostly parasitic to caterpillars
- Bugscope Teamthis is one of four super sharp stylets the female mosquito has that pierce your skin
- Bugscope Teamit is like a tiny steak knife
- 9:55 am
- Bugscope Teamnow we can see the proboscis, in which the stylets are sheathed
- Teacherwhat is probosis?
Bugscope Teamthat is the mouthpart of an insect that drinks fluids, like a mosquito or a true bug or butterfly
- Bugscope Teamthe proboscis does not stick into your skin, but inside it is a fascicle, which has the stylets, two of which we see, and a siphon tube that both sucks blood and injects a bit of saliva into your skin
- Bugscope Teamnow we see the female mosquito
- Bugscope Teamthe female mosquito's head
- Bugscope Teamits antennae are plain and not nearly as interesting as those of the males
- Teacherwhich part is this?
- Bugscope Teamthis is the siphon tube; we were hoping to see blood on it
- Bugscope Teambut it has only, perhaps, dried saliva
- Bugscope Teamthe very tip also has taste receptors on it for fine dining on someone's blood
- 10:00 am
- Bugscope Teamnow we see a male mosquito, right next to the female
- Bugscope Teamthis is what the male mosquito's antennae look like up close
- Bugscope Teamthey have sensors that help them find the female
- Bugscope Teammale mosquitos do not bite
- Teacherhow many eyes does the mosquitoe has?
Bugscope Teamjust 2 compound eyes- their eyes take up most of the area of the head. They wrap all around
- Bugscope Teamthe compound eyes have hundreds of facets -- the ommatidia
- Bugscope Teamthis is one ommatidium, up close -- more than 20,000 times magnified
- Bugscope Teamand these are some of the scales on the exoskeleton of the male mosquito
- 10:06 am
- Teacherwhat does the ommatidia used for?
Bugscope Teamthey are the individual parts/facets of the compound eye. They are thought to each acquire some sort of image to send back to the brain
- Bugscope Teamthis is the tip of one of the mosquito's legs
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that the legs and even the proboscis are covered with scales
- Bugscope Teamscales are very helpful to have if you are a butterfly or moth or mosquito, or even a silverfish
- Teacherwhy are scales important?
- Bugscope Teamif you had scales, and you flew into a spider's web, you could perhaps slip out before being captured by leaving your scales stuck to the web
- Bugscope Teamscales also give color to the wings
- Bugscope Teamnow we are looking at a haltere, which is modified hindwing on a fly
- Bugscope Teamthis is on the body of a fruit fly
- 10:11 am
- Bugscope Teamnow this is so cool -- this is an Argus Tortoise beetle
- Bugscope Teamwhen I first saw it I thought it was a ladybug
- Bugscope Teamthey are quite small and have a shell similar to a ladybug, but larger
- Teacherdo you have any cockcroach?
Bugscope TeamI am sorry -- sort of -- that we do not have any cockroaches today
- Teacherok
- Bugscope Teamlast week we had a parasitic wasp whose specialty was laying eggs in cockroaches
- Teacherhave
- Bugscope TeamFran at the end of winter like this we have fewer and fewer insects...
- Bugscope Teamwe need to stock up
- Teacherok thanks
- Bugscope Teamthis is a grain of pollen stuck to the tenent setae of the Tortoise beetle
- Teacherdo u have any butterfly?
Bugscope Teamwe have a couple moths, which should work
- Bugscope Teamthose little flower-like setae are what insects use to stick to surfaces -- what help them cling to the ceiling, for example
- 10:16 am
- Teacherdo you have any centipede?
Bugscope Teamnot today, I am so sorry...
- Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye of a moth
- Teacherok
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the facets of the eye -- the ommatidia -- and you can also see fungal hyphae
- Bugscope Teamfungus eventually gets on almost everything and makes it decompose
- Teacherdo you have any spiders
Bugscope Teamoh goodness, no -- not today
- Bugscope Teamwe are not doing very well with your requests today
- Teacherthats ok
- Bugscope Teamit is partly that it is the end of winter, almost, and our stocks are low
- Teachermaybe another time
Bugscope Teamcertainly!
- TeacherTeachers and students say thanks and they found it very interesting and informative
- Teacherthank you all
- Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Teacherbut we will stop here for today...thanks again
- Bugscope Teamsee you next time!
- Bugscope Teamthanks and sorry we didn't have all the insects you wanted