Connected on 2012-05-31 09:00:00
from Chittenden, Vermont, United States
- 7:40 am
- Bugscope Teamgood morning!
- Bugscope Teamthe sample is pumping down
- Bugscope Teamwe are connecting at 9 Central time, correct?
- Bugscope Teamif not please let me know and I will hurry things along.
- Bugscope Teamoh Welcome to Bugscope!
- TeacherYikes. I have kids coming at 9 Eastern. oops.
- Bugscope TeamAs soon as we get vacuum I will start. We should be good.
- TeacherCan we meet at 9:30 EST?
Bugscope Teamwe'll try to have a good number of presets done by 9 your time. we can start then
- TeacherGood for 9AM EST?
Bugscope Teamyes we can do it
- TeacherOK. Got it. I have backup if we need more time. I'm sorry to mess up.
- 7:47 am
- 7:54 am
- Bugscope Teamwe should be fine, no problem
- Teacherwhat are we looking at now?
- Bugscope Teamthis is part of a fly's compound eye
- Bugscope Teamthe individual facets are called ommatidia
- 7:59 am
- Teacherwe are ready to go
- Bugscope TeamCool!
- Teacherwhat do you recomend that we start with?
Bugscope Teamanything you like; you have control. we can help focus when necessary
- Bugscope Teamplease let us know when you have questions about what you are seeing
- Bugscope Teamthis is the tip of the wasp's abdomen, and we can see that the stinger is inside where it is not visible -- sorry...
- Bugscope Teamnow I just found this very odd looking wasp
- 8:04 am
- Bugscope Teamyou can see its mandibles, and this is its compound eye
- Bugscope Teamthere are small setae on the surface of the eye that help the wasp sense when something is touching the eye
- Bugscope Teameach individual facet of the eye, called an ommatidium, works like a lens
- Bugscope Teamthe roundness of the eye allows the wasp to have good peripheral vision -- it can see more of what is around it without turning its head
- Teacherwhat is the bumby thing on the left side?
- Bugscope Teamhaving compound eyes also allows the insect to update its visual field more quickly and avoid being swatted, for example
- Teacherbumpy*
Bugscope Teamthat is some dirt that likely stuck on the eye after the wasp died
- Bugscope Teamwe often see dirt and debris, sometimes pollen and sometimes mold spores
- Bugscope TeamSEM is the scanning electron microscope. I am sitting at its computer, so I can also drive the microscope directly for you.
- 8:10 am
- Teacherwhat are the bubble like structures on the eye?
Bugscope Teamthe very small bubble-like structures we see now are some dried fluid on the surface of the eye. we should remember this and compare it with other eyes this morning
- Bugscope Teamthe tiny hair-like things, as here, are called 'setae,' pronounced see-tee.
- Teacherokay, can we further magnify?
Bugscope Teamsure!
- Bugscope Teamyou're driving a $600,000 electron microscope
- Bugscope Teaminsects do not have skin; instead they have a shell made of chitin, which is kind of like if we were wearing armor
- Bugscope Teamin order to feel things touching the surface of the exoskeleton (a 'skeleton on the outside'), the insect has hairs that stick through and connect to nerves underneath
- Bugscope Teamdifferent hairs (setae) can sense touch, hot/cold, wind, and even chemical smells
- 8:15 am
- Bugscope Teamonce we get up to super high mag we realize that there is not much to see
- Bugscope Teamoften there is not much to see, depending on where we are...
- Bugscope Teambe sure to try some of the other presets
- Bugscope Teamwhen we use the microscope for Bugscope, we keep the sample more than an inch away from the polepiece -- from the electron source
- Teacheralright, can we see the mouth of the wood tick we sent in?
Bugscope Teamit does not look good but I will drive there
- Bugscope TeamI am sorry about this. It is hard to see problems like this at low mag. The tick leaked a bunch of blood, or some other fluid, right where its mouth is
- Teacherwhat are we looking at right now?
- Bugscope Teamthis is one of the sensory palps on either side of the hypostome, which is the part that sticks into your skin
- 8:21 am
- Bugscope Teamthe palps separate on either side -- they fold down -- and then the hypostome sticks directly into your skin
- Bugscope Teamthe head of the tick is called the 'capitulum' -- like the word 'capitol'
- Bugscope Teamthe setae we see now help the tick pick up chemical smells from your skin
- Bugscope Teamthey're kind of like tastebuds
- Bugscope Teamyou also sent an insect that looks very much like a bedbug
- Teacheris that how they find us?
Bugscope TeamI think different ticks can sense different things. Some sense heat from our bodies, and some sense carbon dioxide from our breath.
- Bugscope Teamticks go through life stages in which they grow and molt
- Bugscope Teamwhen they are young they have only six legs
- Teachercan we see the bedbug?
Bugscope TeamYes! It looks good.
- Bugscope Teamyou can see its antennae, on either side of the head, toward the top
- Bugscope Teamin the center you see a shield-like hatch that the proboscis is projecting out of, and down
- Bugscope Teamto the left and right you see bulbous compound eyes
- 8:26 am
- Bugscope Teamand we can also see the bedbug's forelegs
- Bugscope Teamwhen it bites, the proboscis, which is pointing downward now, points forward
- Bugscope Teammuch like the tick'
- Bugscope Teams palps, we see 'tastebuds' here at the tip of the proboscis
- Bugscope Teamit can smell with those tastebuds and ensure that it pokes right into your skin
- Bugscope TeamI think we can also see one of the stylets, or laciniae, with which it cuts into your skin
- Teacheryummy
Bugscope Teamyeah cool huh?
- Teacherare these the tastebuds?
- Bugscope Teamhere are a couple of slightly desiccated mold spores
- Bugscope Teamthey do resemble tastebuds
- 8:31 am
- Bugscope Teamthis is about 10x the magnification you can get with a light microscope
- Bugscope Teampollen looks kind of like this but is larger and the shapes seem to vary more
- Bugscope Teamso pretty!
- Bugscope Teammold is always around and ready to start growing
- Teachersweet
Bugscope Teamhaha
- Bugscope Teamlet's look at the wasp's head
- Bugscope Teamwasps can have as many as 17,000 ommatidia per compound eye
- Bugscope Team17,000 facets to each eye!
- Teacherwhat are the hairs for on the head?
Bugscope Teamthey help the wasp sense touch, and as in many insects they also help hold air near the surface of the exoskeleton, providing a more even temperature
- Bugscope Teamthe jaws, or mandibles, open left and right rather than up and down like our jaws
- 8:36 am
- Bugscope Teamthis mandible has a kind of hinge like a door
- Teachercan we see the stinger?
Bugscope Teamwe looked for the stinger earlier, and it is inside where we cannot see it. but I will show you.
- Bugscope Teamwe are moving south on the body...
- Bugscope Teamnow we can see the narrow wasp waist
- Bugscope Teamthis is the abdomen
- Bugscope Teamthe stinger is inside that wide dark opening
- Bugscope Teamwe just found it! but it is a little hard to see
- Bugscope Teamwasps can sting repeatedly, whereas honeybees can sting mammals only once, and the stinger gets caught in the thick skin and pulled out
- 8:42 am
- Teacherdid we send an insect from the orthoptera order?
Bugscope Teamlike maybe a grasshopper?
- Teacheryeah
- Bugscope Teamlet's go see...
- Bugscope Teamthe grasshopper is very large for the electron microscope, and we cannot even see all of its head at one time
- Bugscope Teambut now I bet you can recognize it
- Teacheryes
- Bugscope Teamdoes this look like the one you sent?
- Teacheryeah
- Bugscope Teamthis is its mouth, from the side
- Bugscope Teaminsects often have accessory mouthparts (as do other arthropods like ticks) that help them taste and manipulate their food
- Bugscope Teamso the things that look like limbs here are two sets of palps
- Bugscope Teamif we could see the tips of the palps we would find more of those things like tastebuds
- Teacherwe have to sign off now, but thank you for your time and great expertise!!
Bugscope TeamThank You for working with us today!
- Bugscope Teamhttps://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2011-177
- Bugscope Teamthis is your member page:
- TeacherThe pleasure is ours ;)
- Bugscope Teamsee you next year!
- 8:48 am
- Bugscope TeamBye!
- Teachergreat, bye
