Connected on 2011-10-28 10:30:00
from Delaware, Pennsylvania, United States
- 9:19 am
- Bugscope Teamsample is being coated now...
- Bugscope Team(in the other room)
- 9:29 am
- Bugscope Teamnow the coated sample is in the 'scope; you can see it in the CCD camera view
- Bugscope Teamso the 'scope is pumping down
- Bugscope Teamwe're waiting for the vacuum to reach an acceptable level so we can turn the electron beam on
- 9:36 am
- Bugscope Team1.6 x 10-4 mBar
- Bugscope Teamgoing for 1.3
- Bugscope Team1.4...
- Bugscope Teamonce we reach vacuum and turn on the beam, we'll make some quick adjustments to the 'scope and then start looking for presets
- 9:45 am
- 9:51 am
- 9:56 am
- 10:03 am
- 10:09 am
- 10:14 am
- Bugscope Teamgood morning, Ron!
- Bugscope Teamwelcome to Bugscope!
- 10:19 am
- 10:25 am
- 10:31 am
- Bugscope Teamyou have control of the microscope, and we are ready to roll on this end
- Bugscope Teamhttp://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2011-085
- Bugscope Teambelow is your member page, where all of the images and chat are stored
- Bugscope Teamcool you just moved to the roach
- Bugscope Teamyou can change the mag, change contrast/brightness, click on a feature to center it
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the antennae, and you can see that the eyes are so streamlined into the head that they appear smooth at this low mag
- 10:37 am
- Bugscope Teamthe head has tiny setae on it
- Bugscope Teamnow we're looking at the base of the left antenna
- Bugscope Teamand a palp
- Bugscope Teamnow the mouth and the forelimbs
- Bugscope Teamnow we see another palp, and some spines on one of the legs
- Bugscope Teamcan you see the chat?
- Bugscope Teamit may be that your screen resolution needs to be modified a bit to allow you to see the whole interface
- Teacherthis is working
- Bugscope Teamhey Cool
- Bugscope Teamjust let us know when we can help or whenever you might have questions about the insects/arthropods or how the 'scope works, etc.
- Bugscope Teamthis is the other small roach I put on the stub this morning
- Teacherhey
- Bugscope Teamyou sent a lot of specimens, and I put as many as I could on the stub, which is 1.75 in. in diameter
- 10:42 am
- Bugscope Teamthis is the shaft of the antenna
- Bugscope Teamscales on the top of the head of a moth
- Bugscope Teamscales are modified setae, which is what the tiny hairs are that we see on all of the insects/arthropods
- Teacherwhy not
Bugscope Team?
- Bugscope Teamthe scales are what give the insect its color; they also likely help keep its body temperature more stable
- Bugscope Teamscales also help if you fly into a web; you can leave the scales, which come out easily, and perhaps just slip away
- Bugscope Teamsee the antennae to the right?
- Teachernice
- Bugscope Teamthe other antenna broke off
- Bugscope Teamthe things on either side of the proboscis (we cannot see it just now) are the palps
- Bugscope Teamthis is the top of the head
- Teacherwhat color is it
- Bugscope Teamyou can also see, now, the facets (ommatidia) of the compound eyes on either side
- Teacher?
- Bugscope Teamthis moth was a kind of dull brown
- 10:47 am
- Teacherthanks!
- Teacherstinge available?
- Bugscope Teamnow we see some of the ommatidia on the yellowjacket's compound eye
- Bugscope Teamsome wasps can have as many as 17,000 ommatidia on one eye
- Teacherstinger
Bugscope TeamI don't believe we can see the stinger on any of the insects in the 'scope today
- Bugscope Teambut you are welcome to look for it
- Teacheraww
- Bugscope Teamif you take the 'scope to the lowest mag you can use click to center to drive south where the abdomen is
- Bugscope Teamor I can take us down there
- Bugscope Teamsee the compound eye with the antennae nestled up against it?
- Bugscope Teamnow we're moving steadily down the body
- Teacheryes
- Bugscope Teamthis is the thorax, which all six legs are attached to
- Bugscope Teamsouth of that is the abdomen
- Bugscope Teambees and wasps, including yellowjackets, have four wings
- 10:52 am
- Bugscope Teamwhen they fly, however, they hook the fore- and hindwings together using those hooks called hamuli
- Bugscope Teamflies, of course, have two wings
- Bugscope Teamthat was a surprise -- you had found the tip of the stinger there
- Teacherok yeah
- Teacherwe were very excited
- Bugscope Teamflies balance the motion of their two wings using halteres, which are modified hindwings
- Bugscope Teamthe setae (the tiny hairlike things) we see are there to help the insect sense its environment
- Bugscope Teamsome setae are mechanosensory, some are chemosensory, some are thermosensory, and some are sticky; some are scales
- Teacheris this pollen?
- Bugscope Teamthis I am not sure of. could be frass
- Bugscope Teamyou will recognize pollen when you find it
- Bugscope Teamthere are different sizes and shapes of pollen
- Teacherwhat is that?
Bugscope Teamwhat is frass?
- 10:57 am
- Bugscope Teamwhoa!
- Teacheryea
- Bugscope Teamthis is the face of one of the spiders you sent
- Bugscope Teamfrass is what flyspecks are
- Bugscope Teaminsect poop
- Bugscope Teamyou can see eight eyes
- Bugscope Teamand you can see the plumose setae on the cephalothorax
- Teachersure
- Bugscope Teamthose are the hooks that connect the fore- and hindwings
- Bugscope Teamcalled hamuli
- Bugscope Teamwhen the yellowjacket flies, they are clipped over the edge of the wing to the right
- Teacherhow did yellowjackets get their name?
- Bugscope TeamI think it's because they are partly yellow. I can check.
- Teachergood to know
- Teacheryepo
- Teacheroreo
- Bugscope Teamyellowjackets are wasps. sometimes the black portion of the color of the abdomen is red, so they would be red and yellow
- Teacherat
- Teachermosquito
- Teacherits great[
- Teacherthanks
- 11:02 am
- Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye, the pedicel, and the antenna of a male mosquito
- Teacheramazing pic
- Bugscope Teamthe pedicel is the round thing the antenna comes out of
- Bugscope Teamyou can see a lot of web here
- Teacherthanks awesome
- Bugscope Teamthe ommatidia are wrinkled
- Bugscope Teambut you can see the fine features
- Bugscope Teamthose round portions are very small - putting your imaging at the nanoscale
- Bugscope Teamin comparison the ant's eye is not nearly as complex
- Bugscope Teamants rely on their antennae much more than their eyes, generally, to get information from their surroundings
- Teacherwe have a new group of kids
- Bugscope Teamants are almost all female
- Bugscope Teamwhen you see them with wings, those are males
- Bugscope Teamunless of course it is the queen, who loses her wings when she enters the nest
- 11:07 am
- Bugscope Teamthe vestiture is the 'decoration' on the head of an insect
- Bugscope Teamthat is the hinge of the mandible
- Bugscope Teaminsect jaws, when they have them, usually open side to side, like a gate
- Bugscope Teamsome of the bristles or setae or spines we see help the insect sense its own body
- Bugscope Teambecause insects do not have skin -- instead they have an exoskeleton -- it is kind of like they are wearing a suit of armor all of the time
- Bugscope Teamthe setae stick through the exoskeleton and allow the insect to sense its environment
- Teacheris there one male that fathers all of the ants with the queen ant,, allie
Bugscope Teamthe queen flies out and meets with male (also flying) ants from other areas in the air
- Teacherthanks
- Bugscope TeamI am not sure if there is a single father or a number of fathers
- Bugscope Teamthe female flies out to meet the male ants away from her nest so that she will have a different complement of genes from ants that are not exactly like her
- 11:13 am
- Bugscope Teamhere we can see the forked part of the mandible, about in the middle
- Bugscope Teamthe tiny limblike things are palps, which help the insect taste and manipulate its food
- Bugscope Teamsee how tiny the mite is?
- Bugscope Teamyou might not recognize it as a mite, but we have seen them before
- Bugscope Teamthe mite is about a fifth of a millimeter (200 microns, or micrometers) long
- Bugscope Teammany of the mites we see do not have eyes
- Teacherhow many did you see... Micah
Bugscope TeamMicah usually when we see mites they are on earwigs, and there could be 15 or 20.
- Bugscope Teamthe mites hang out together on places the earwig cannot reach to dislodge them
- Bugscope Teamhemolymph is what insect 'blood' is called
- 11:18 am
- Bugscope Teamhemolymph is usually clear, but when you smoosh an insect you may see yellow from the food it's been eating as well
- Bugscope Teamthe round thing there is the tip of an antenna
- TeacherAnother mite?
Bugscope Teamit's the very tip of an antenna, curved around the head
- Bugscope Teamyou found a diatom!
- Bugscope Teamdiatoms are one-celled silica organisms that live in the water
- Teachercool!
- Bugscope Teamtheir shells are made of silica, and you also find them in soil where water once was
- Bugscope Teamthey come in a variety of shapes
- Bugscope Teamspiders do not always see well; they depend one their setae to transmit vibration to their senses
- Bugscope Teamspiders have the ability to detach a leg, for example, if they sense that there is venom in it from another spider having bit them, for exmple
- Bugscope Teamexample, sorry
- Bugscope Teamthat is called 'autotomy' -- the ability to simply let one of the legs fall off
- 11:24 am
- Bugscope Teamall spiders eat by injecting venom into their prey. the venom dissolves the inner organs of the prey, and the spider sucks it all back up like a milkshake
- Teacherwhat is that?
Bugscope TeamI am sorry -- I did not recognize that little glob of stuff on the eye
- Teacherwhat is that? ben
Bugscope TeamBen we are looking at the edges of the fore- and hindwings of the yellowjacket wasp
- Bugscope Teamthe curved things we see are hooks that can be used to connect the wings together when the wasp flies
- Bugscope Teamthey're called 'hamuli'
- Bugscope Teamwasps and bees have four wings, and when they enter small places, like the nest, they can fold their wings up to give them more room to maneuver
- 11:29 am
- Bugscope Teambut if you had compound eyes wrapped around your head like the yellowjacket, you could see all around your head without moving your head
- Bugscope Teamalso, compound eyes allow you to sense motion very quickly, so if someone tries to smack you, you can move away
- Teacherare these hairs or spikes.. ari
Bugscope TeamAri we are not supposed to call them hairs because only mammals are said to have hair, but entomologists often do call them hairs.
- Bugscope Teamthey are also called bristles, setae (see-tee), trichae, spines, etc.
- Bugscope Teamthese are also setae, but they are modfied into scales
- Bugscope Teamthe scales are what you feel when you rub a butterfly's wings and they feel so silky
- 11:34 am
- TeacherIs this pollon or mold?... Micah'
Bugscope TeamMicah I think it is just dirt. But sometimes we just do not recognize things. We can see bacteria and pollen but have not see any yet today.
- TeacherCan we magnify thumbnails tomorrow?
Bugscope Teamtomorrow you will be able to look at this transcript and all of the images you have taken today, but the presets (the thumbnails) will not work the same way.
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the ridges in the scale
- Bugscope Teamthat is where the pigment granules reside when the wing is colored.
- Bugscope Teambut the shape of the scales and the spacing between the ridges also produces colors, called structural colors
- Bugscope Teamthis is much much higher mag than a light microscope will allow you to see
- TeacherHave to close up excellent ...
- Bugscope Teamhttp://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2011-085
- Bugscope Teamthis is the address of your member page
- Bugscope TeamThank You for connecting with us today!
- Bugscope Teamthis was really fun for us
- 11:39 am
- Teacherwonderful.... thanks Scot...Ron
- Bugscope Teamthank you!
