Connected on 2012-04-19 08:45:00
from Travis, Texas, United States
- 7:34 am
- Bugscope TeamHello!
- Bugscope TeamSample is pumping down.
- Bugscope TeamStarting setup a bit early for today's session.
- 8:14 am
- 8:19 am
- Bugscope Teamwe are making presets now
- 8:26 am
- 8:31 am
- Bugscope TeamVanessa!
- Bugscope TeamI see of course that you had to log in as a student.
- Studentwe just logged in! We have a parent here giving some information regarding electron microscopes. He works with computers and microscopes
- Bugscope TeamThat is no problem for us -- I gave you control of the microscope for when you need it.
- Bugscope Teamtell him this is a field emission SEM.
- StudentThanks! Can I use my mouse
Bugscope Teamyes you can
- StudentGreat! Do I click on the arrows?
- 8:36 am
- Bugscope TeamI have a couple more presets to make, though.
- StudentNo problem! Just let me know when you're ready!
- Bugscope Teamif you click on the lefthand arrow, that will take you to the screen that shows the presets. You can do that now. When you click on the thumbnail for a preset, the 'scope will drive to that position on the stub.
- StudentGreat!
- StudentIs this the ant?
Bugscope Teamthis right now is a female housefly
- StudentThe kids want to know how you know this is a female?
Bugscope Teammale housefly eyes are close together, like Mikhail Baryshnikov's eyes
- Bugscope Teamfemale housefly eyes are far apart like Uma Thurman's eyes
- StudentThanks!
- 8:42 am
- StudentAre you ready?
Bugscope Teamsure we can start now!
- StudentGreat! Should I begin with the first slide to the left?
Bugscope Teamwhichever you would like
- Bugscope Teamthese are live images from the electron microscope, so what shows up in the thumbnail may have moved since we set it
- Bugscope Teamwe are looking at the fly's face
- Bugscope Teamand now its claw
- Bugscope Teamit has six claws, one for each leg
- Bugscope Teamyou have the ability to change the magnification and also drive around, as well as change focus, etc.
- Bugscope Teamthe claw has a pad next to it called a pulvillus which has lots of sticky hairs on it called tenent setae
- StudentWhat is this thing hanging off the claw?
- Bugscope Teamthat tenent setae are what help the fly cling to vertical surfaces
- Bugscope Teammaybe a tiny piece of a plant fiber
- Bugscope Teaminsects have a head; a thorax, which all of the limbs are attached to; an abdomen; six legs; and two antennae
- 8:48 am
- Bugscope Teamthis is the opening to the stinkbug's stink gland
- Bugscope Teamstinkbugs don't like their smell any more than anything else
- Bugscope Teamso pretty
- Bugscope Teamit is like a built-in filter
- Bugscope Teaminsects breath using large pores on either side of the body segments called spiracles, and they have similar filters
- Studenta filter for what?
Bugscope Teama filter to keep dust and dirt out of the stinkbug's body
- Bugscope Team10 microns, on the scalebar, is about 5 bacteria long
- Bugscope Teamso if we find bacteria, the rod-shaped bacilli, for example, we can easily see them
- StudentHow do they make their stink stuff?
Bugscope Teamoh that is in two glands on the inside of the body, on either side; the openings are between the first and 2nd pairs of legs on the ventral side of the body -- the underside
- StudentWhat are the hair-like structures on the scorpion claw?
Bugscope Teamthose are sensory bristles or setae that let the scorpion know when something is touching it
- 8:53 am
- Bugscope Teaminsects and similar arthropods like scorpions and spiders do not have skin; instead they have an exoskeleton, which is like a shell protecting them
- Bugscope Teamthe setae stick through that shell and connect to nerves beneath
- Bugscope Teamsetae can sense hot/cold, chemical odors, and also touch
- Bugscope Teamyay!
- Bugscope Teamwe can see at least five of the spider's eyes here, plus the chelicerae, which hold the fangs
- Bugscope Teamsee how 'hairy' the spider is? It has lots of setae that help it sense vibration
- Bugscope Teamoften spider eyes are not very good. but some spiders can see quite well
- StudentWhat are the specks on the eyeball?
Bugscope Teamlooks like some dust and random debris
- Bugscope Teaminsects and spiders cannot close their eyes -- they don't have eyelids. but they can wipe their eyes off to clean them
- Bugscope Teamsome spiders, like tarantulas, also have hairs that they can release that make you itch
- StudentDo they have a compound eye like a fly?
Bugscope Teamno they have simple eyes, like this
- 8:58 am
- Bugscope Teamactually, many flying insects like flies, wasps, bees, moths, butterflies also have simple eyes called 'ocelli' on the tops of their head
- Bugscope Teamsometimes we see mold spores at higher mag like this, but often it is stuff we do not recognize
- Bugscope TeamI am at the SEM now and can focus more quickly for you
- Bugscope Teamthis really looks like a bunch of very small rocks
- Bugscope Teamnow the scalebar reads two microns, which is the length of a single bacillus
- Bugscope Teamnow 5 microns, or 2.5 bacteria long
- StudentIn your opinion, which is the most interesting sample you have?
Bugscope TeamI think the scorpion is pretty cool today
- Bugscope TeamCate made the sample, and I thought she'd put a part of a centipede on the stub
- Bugscope Teamthese are the chewing mandibles
- Bugscope Teamnow we can see at least 5 eyes
- 9:03 am
- Bugscope Teamthis is much like the face of the spider, with its split chelicerae
- StudentWhere are the eyes?
Bugscope Teamnow they are to the left and right, on the upper carapace
- Bugscope Teamgood job!
- StudentWhy is the surface so rough?
Bugscope Teamit protects the scorpion and makes it less bendy
- Bugscope Teamthere is a lot of fungus here that grew after the scorpion died
- StudentWhy is this area cracked?
Bugscope Teamthere is a film of some sort there that dried and cracked
- Bugscope Teamlots of fungus here
- 9:09 am
- Bugscope Teamit is hard with the 'scope set up this way to get good high-mag images
- StudentDo you know of any parasites to view?
Bugscope Teamwe don't always see parasites
- Bugscope Teamsometimes we see mites, and we always watch for them
- StudentNo problem!
- StudentWhat are the circles surrounding the head?
- Bugscope Teamsee how the mandibles open side to side like a gate?
- Bugscope Teaminsect mandible don't work like ours, which go up and down
- Bugscope Teammandibles...
- Studentyes!
- StudentWhere is that?
Bugscope Teamthis is one mandible, and you can see that it has a kind of hinge right next to the eye
- 9:14 am
- Bugscope Teamit's not the bee's fault that its eyes are dirty
- Bugscope Teamif we look at the moth we may be able to see finer features in the individual ommatidia
- Bugscope Teamcompared to the bee's eye
- Bugscope Teammoths can see ultraviolet light
- Bugscope Teamsome butterflies and other insects can as well
- Bugscope Teamthese are just two wing scales from a moth
- Bugscope Teamthe ridges bend light into various colors, just from their size and shape
- Bugscope Teamsometimes there are also pigment granules in the cross latticework we see now
- Bugscope Teamwhen you stroke the wing of a moth and powder comes off, it is actually scales like this one
- StudentWhat is the purpose of the latticework?
Bugscope Teamscales have many purposes, and one is to function like feathers; so they need to be lightweight and also strong
- 9:19 am
- Bugscope Teamscales also help insects that have them regulate their temperature; they provide color, both structural and from pigments; and perhaps most importantly they come off easily when a moth, for example, flies into a spiderweb. thus allowing the moth to escape
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of an ant -- you can see that it looks much like a wasp or bee
- Bugscope Teamthis is where the tip of the antenna is broken off
- StudentWhat's inside?
Bugscope Teamthat is the broken core of the antenna; there are lots of nerves inside
- Bugscope Teamalmost every ant you see is a female
- Bugscope Teamthe males have wings, and they don't stick around long; the female ants often will not let them back into their nests
- StudentAre they the workers?
Bugscope Teamthe workers and the drones and the queens are female
- StudentInteresting!
- Bugscope Teamand the soldiers
- Bugscope Teamas well
- 9:24 am
- StudentWhy don't they let the males back in?
Bugscope Teamthe males have wings so they can fly out and possibly breed with a queen from a faraway colony, while she still has wings; when the males come back the other ants don't want them there because they don't have jobs anymore; if they can't help they are not let back in
- Bugscope Teamit probably also helps keep bacteria and viruses out of the nest
- StudentThanks! What has happened to the eye here?
Bugscope Teamlet's see!
- Bugscope Teamlooks like the eye has a plant fiber or a section of fungal hyphae on it
- StudentIt looks like there may just be something in front of the eye!
Bugscope Teamyes I think you are right!
- Bugscope Teamwhen insect and other animals die, fungus and bacteria and larger scavengers come along quickly to help them decompose; its recycling
- StudentAre these scales?
Bugscope Teamthe surface of the the ant's cuticle -- the chitin -- looks like scales
- 9:30 am
- Bugscope Teamit is a platey form of armor that makes the cuticle stronger
- StudentAre those hairs coming out?
Bugscope Teamyes the hairs are connected to nerves under the cuticle. The hairs help tell the ant when it touches something
- Bugscope Teamgood job driving!
- Bugscope Teamthere are two pits in the front of the ant's face that go inside but don't actually open to the inside of the head
- StudentAre you referring to the black holes?
- Bugscope Teamthose are places where the cuticle on the outside forms a tube on the inside that supports the muscle
- StudentWhat is that small black hole above the mouth and on either side?
Bugscope Teamthey are called 'anterior tentorial pits,' and they form structural supports on the inside of the head
- 9:35 am
- StudentHow big is the ant's brain?
Bugscope Teamin this ant it is likely only 200 or 300 micrometers (0.2 - 0.3 millimeters) in diameter. the rest of the inside of the head has muscles in it that control the mandibles and also help the antennae move
- StudentVery interesting! Thanks!
- Bugscope Teambeneath the jaws are accessory 'feelers' called palps that help the ant manipulate and also taste its food
- Bugscope Teamthe bee's tongue is in a sheath that I think is called the labrum; the tongue itself is called a 'glossa.'
- StudentThis almost looks like a tongue. Is it?
Bugscope Teamyes the fibrous part in the middle is the tongue
- Bugscope Teamthis is different from the ant, of course; ants that we know, at least so far, do not have a labrum or glossa
- StudentWhat are the two large circles globs near the mouth on the right?
Bugscope Teammost likely it's just dirt
- 9:40 am
- Bugscope Teamsome of the setae may also help hold nectar, which the bee collects from flowers
- Bugscope Teamwe can see some sort of dried fluid here on this seta
- Bugscope Teamnow we are looking further into the mouth area
- Studentis this dust or bacteria?
- Bugscope Teamthis appears to be nectar that has dried and is forming tiny imperfect crystals
- Bugscope Teamlooks like crystal
- 9:45 am
- Bugscope Teamthanks for joining us today! Hope you all had fun!
- StudentThis has been great. Thank you for the opportunity to see some bugs
- StudentScott and Cate. Thank you so much. we need to wrap up.
Bugscope TeamThank you!
- StudentWe look forward to another bugscope session in the future.
- Bugscope Teamwhen we use the 'scope for research we operate at a different working distance and get better resolution at high mag. but the tradeoff is that we cannot see whole insects at lower mag
- StudentIf the kids want to see the images, when will they be uploaded online?
Bugscope Teamhttps://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2011-136
- Bugscope Teamthe images and chat text are available at the site I just sent. that is your member page
- StudentThanks again. We are logging off.
Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Bugscope TeamEI are you still there?
- Bugscope Teamokay we are going to shut down...
- Bugscope Teamvery nice
