Connected on 2012-12-03 10:30:00
from York, South Carolina, United States
- 9:23 am
- Bugscope Teamwe are just about to put the sample in
- 9:28 am
- Bugscope Teamsample is now in and pumping down
- Bugscope Teamas soon as we reach vacuum we will make some adjustments to the 'scope, then start making presets for today's session
- 9:46 am
- 9:51 am
- 9:57 am
- 10:03 am
- 10:08 am
- 10:20 am
- Bugscope Teamwe are ready to roll!
- 10:31 am
- Bugscope TeamHello Ms G!
- Bugscope TeamWelcome back!
- Teachertake your time, studnets will be a few monutes gettng here.
- Teacherthanks! It's been a while since I've had a class, been watchingothers at times. We have so many classes, it's hard to get my own time.
- Bugscope Teamlet us know when you need anything. we are here of course to help and to answer questions
- Teacherfyi I am the technology teacher, so I show students ways tech can help them learn other subjects.
- 10:37 am
- Bugscope Teamsuper cool
- Bugscope Teamthere are many other uses for scanning electron microscopes. besides allowing us to image small 3D things, we can also collect the xrays from those things and perform elemental analysis
- 10:43 am
- Bugscope Teamthis SEM is also capable of imaging samples that are not coated to make them conductive. We can work at 100% relative humidity and image fully hydrated samples as well, although there are a lot of constraints to that.
- 10:49 am
- Bugscope Teamha yeah in a way
- TeacherSo you can work rain or shine?
Bugscope Teamhaha Yeah, as long as we have electricity down here, and chilled water, we can work during a tornado even
- Bugscope Teamwe're 23 feet underground in the Serious Middle of Nowhere, Illinois
- 11:00 am
- TeacherClass is here. I am going to do a little intro. I have seen this group in over a week, so they need some info.
Bugscope Teamok
- Teacherok- can you give them a shout?
- Bugscope Teamhi everyone!
- Bugscope TeamHello! Welcome to Bugscope!
- Teacheri wll drive around a bit to generate ?'s
- Bugscope Teamthis is a grasshopper; maybe that is obvious
- Bugscope TeamHi!
- Bugscope Teamyou can see its antennae and actually both of its compound eyes
- Bugscope Teamnow you can just begin to see that the eye is composed of hundreds of tiny facets
- Bugscope Teamthe facets are called ommatidia, and they function like individual lenses
- Bugscope Teaminsects are invertebrates, which means that they do not have backbones. but they do not have any bones at all. instead they have what is called an exoskeleton.
- Teacherdo grass hoppers have wings?
- Bugscope Teamyes they do, when they become adults
- 11:06 am
- Bugscope Teamone of today's presets is a closeup of this grasshopper's wing
- Teacherok - we will get to look at the wings later - thanks
- Bugscope Teamthere are certain grasshoppers known as locusts. normally they are solitary, but as they get more crowded, they turn into this swarm and are super destructive to crops.
- Teacherwhat are we seeing now? It is part of the swirl
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the scale bar is about as big as a human hair right now at 50 microns
- Bugscope Teamso this puts us right there. one thing we can see is that this seems to be a softer, flexible portion of the cuticle, which is what the exoskeleton is called
- Bugscope TeamI'm going to the 'scope to tweak this a bit
- 11:12 am
- Bugscope Teamit looks like a spine from some other insect stuck to a flexible portion of the grasshopper's antenna
- Bugscope Teamwe have a mystery right off the bat, not sure what we're seeing exactly
- Teacherawesome! they love it.
- Bugscope TeamI don't think we have a good answer for exactly how this got that way
- Teacherwe are going to get a close up of the eye now.
- Bugscope Teamyea, that's weird and neat.
- Bugscope Teamat the lower left margin of the screen you can see the scalebar, which lets us get a good idea of the size of the things we're checking out
- Bugscope Team200 microns is the same as 200 micrometers; there are a thousand micrometers in a millimeter, so 200 microns is one fifth of a millimeter
- Bugscope Teamnow we see the ommatidia -- the facets of the compound eye
- Bugscope Teamthere's lots of them on this grasshopper
- Bugscope Teama large wasp, and also some moths, can have 17,000 ommatidia per compound eye
- 11:18 am
- Bugscope Teamthere are different types of ommatidia, one type allows insects to see better in the dark
- Bugscope Teamwe can see that the compound eye is covered with a kind of oily film, and we also see this little flattened sheet of something stuck to the surface of the eye
Bugscope Teamsome kind of scale from another insect?
- Bugscope TeamI moved us to the closer compound eye, thinking that it might be cleaner, but it is not. it has scales on it, as Joe says
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the predominant shape of each ommatidium
- Teacher....after we talk about what you are writing now. :)
- 11:23 am
- Teachercool!! most here would not like to have these eyes even if they have super powers. okay we are ready to look at a wing.
Bugscope Teamyou can click on the wing preset if you would like
Bugscope Teamhahaha, that's true! if they did have these eyes, their heads would just be eyes in order to get a good resolution.
- Bugscope Teamthis is a scale from some other critter sitting on the grasshopper wing
- Bugscope Teamthe ridges can produce what are called 'structural colors,' which change depending on the angle at which you view them
- Bugscope Teaminsect scales can have pigment granules in them that produce colors, from the pigment; the same scales can also produce colors just because of the ridges we see now, which interfere with light
Bugscope Teamthese scales are the structures that are responsible for the colours you see on moths' and butterflies' wings
- Bugscope Teamyes we should be sure to tell you that scales do not normally appear on grasshopper wings
- 11:28 am
- Bugscope Teamnow we can also see tiny scales on this millipede, and they came from an insect as well, not the millipede
- Teachercan you tell us about the hairs we are seeing?
Bugscope Teamthe hairs here are actually called setae. They help the insect sense what is going on around it like sense of touch
- Bugscope Teamwell in this case the millipede
- Bugscope Teamthese same setae are also present on grasshoppers, and in certain species, are what senses their crowding conditions, which can lead to them forming into a swarm of locust.
- Bugscope Teamthis is a fly's head
- Bugscope Teamthat part there is its mouth parts
- 11:34 am
- Bugscope Teambecause insects and similar arthropods have exoskeletons, which are like shells (like a shrimp shell) or like a suit of armor, the setae help (as Cate said) collect information about the environment
- Bugscope Teamthe ridge we see, to the lower left now, is the mouth of the fly -- the sponging mouthparts
- Teacherwe have to make a change and will be back in a few moments.
- Bugscope Teama house fly has a lapping mouth part, they sort of use this to sponge juices up
- Bugscope Teamthat's what I was thinking of Scot
- 11:39 am
- Teacherwhile we make a change, one studnets wants to know....what is the most rare bug you have viewed with this microscope?
Bugscope Teamwe have looked at a number of parasitoid wasps that had never been even named before
Bugscope Teama few years ago we looked at a fly from Israel that was one of only six known examples
- Bugscope Teamthe guy who found the fly in Israel was a giant bodybuilder guy from Germany, super nice guy, who studied super tiny flies
- Bugscope Teamhe was very protective of the fly -- did not want us to accidentally smash it
- Bugscope TeamCate took images of about 350 of those parasitoid wasps.
- 11:44 am
- Teacherthe wasp with no name.....I'll see what my group would say about that. Here they come. Let me know when we have to stop.
Bugscope Teamthe guy who collected the wasps gave them all names -- the first time they had ever been named. That was Dr Marsh, speaking of names.
- Bugscope Teamwhat Dr Marsh told us is that there is apparently a parasitoid wasp not only for every insect that exists, but also for every life stage of an insect
- Bugscope Teamthe parasitoids inject their eggs into target insects, and the eggs grow into larvae that eat their way out
- TeacherWe now have an all-girl class. 3rd grade. lots of comments here1
- Bugscope Teamthis fly is missing the branched (aristate) part of its antennae, and we can see that it has also lost its front legs
- Bugscope Teamthis is almost certainly a female fly
- 11:50 am
- Bugscope Teamthe eyes
- Bugscope Teamwith many flies, you can differentiate males from females because the eyes of the males are close together, almost touching, whereas the eyes of the females are far apart. It's like Mikhail Baryshnikov and Uma Thurman.
- Teacherhow do you know it is female?
Bugscope Teamfemale flies have eyes that are farther apart.
- TeacherWe never heard that before.
- Bugscope Teamwith moths you can often tell by the antennae, which are more frilly on males, and the same goes for mosquitoes
- Bugscope Teamwith most insects we cannot tell if they are males or females from the outside
- Teacherwhat are the lumps on the top of the head?
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of a spider, here you can barely make out that it has 8 eyes
- Bugscope Teamwith spiders we can often tell males from females because in males the pedipalps are bulbous, whereas in females they are more slender, as here
- 11:56 am
- Bugscope Teamthe females can also be much larger in some spider species
- Bugscope Teamagain, we see these hairs or setae on its body, these are used for sensing its environment
- Bugscope Teamspiders have what is called a 'cephalothorax,' meaning that its head and chest or trunk area are one single piece
- Bugscope Teaminsects have a head, a thorax, an abdomen (which a spider has as well), six legs, and two antennae
- Teacherwhat does... males the pedipalps are bulbous....mean?
- Bugscope Teambulbous means round kind of like a balloon
- Teacherpedipalps?
- Bugscope Teamthe pedipalps, which are extra limbs, or feelers, come out of the front of the head, and in males they are swollen, like a balloon as Cate says, or like large boxing gloves
- Bugscope Teaminsects have two sets of small palps, usually, that help them both taste and maneuver prospective food into their mouths
- 12:01 pm
- Bugscope Teamso the 'pedi-' means that they are kind of like feet, and 'palp' is like the word 'palpate,' meaning 'to feel'
- Bugscope Teamthis is a male ant -- now that we have told you it is hard to tell genders in insects, we know how to tell in a few
- Bugscope Teamit is easy to tell the difference with earwigs
- Bugscope Teamnow we can see the fly's compound eye very well -- good job driving!
- Bugscope Teamlots of facets to this compound eye
- Bugscope Teamooh nice focus
- 12:06 pm
- Teacherthe girls are taking turns now- thanks!
- Bugscope Teamcompound eyes have so many lenses -- the ommatidia. one thing that makes them helpful to insects that have them is they update very quickly in the brain -- they are very sensitive to motion
- Bugscope Teamalso, compound eyes give insects far better peripheral vision
- Teacherwe are going into the mouth now....why does he have spikes in there?
- Bugscope Teamthose spikes are likely mechanosensory, like cat or rat whiskers; some of them are chemosensory, to allow the fly to taste its food; and some are thermosensory, to let the fly know what is hot and what is cold
- Bugscope Teamsome of the spikes likely also help the fly by sticking to the food it wants to suck up
- 12:12 pm
- Bugscope Teamthis is cool
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that the honeybee has lots of setae, even on its compound eyes
- Teacherwe like the new big words. thanks
- Bugscope Teambee setae are branched, unlike those on almost all other insect
- Bugscope Teaminsects...
- Bugscope Teamsetae are what we call the things that look like hairs
- Bugscope Teamsee-tee
- Bugscope Teamsingular is seta
- Bugscope Teamseta is latin for bristle
- Bugscope Teamthe branched setae help the bee collect pollen on other parts of its body
- Bugscope Teamlike Seta Palin
- TeacherHa1 I'll tell that one to the older group:).
- Bugscope Teamsorry that is not nice, I know
- Bugscope Teamso the big question is what is this? I am not sure
- Teachershe is looking for the honeybee eye
Bugscope Teamthat is to the right; likely easier to take the magnification down first
- 12:17 pm
- Bugscope Teamthere you can see it now in the lower right corner
- Bugscope Teamgood job driving!
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the ommatidia now
- Bugscope Teamthe individual facets of the compound eye -- the lenses\
- Bugscope Teamwe see setae coming out of fruitfly eyes as well, and there they are said to help the fly sense wind speed and direction
- Bugscope TeamI can fix this on the microscope itself...
- Bugscope Teamthat was easier...
- Bugscope Teamyou can see one of the branched setae
- 12:22 pm
- Bugscope Teamand you can see the general shape of each ommatidium
- Teacherthey look like pine trees and rocks
Bugscope Teamyes they do!
- Bugscope Teambasalt rocks
- Teachergoing to the millipede now
- Bugscope Teamthe main difference at first glance between millipedes and centipedes is millipedes are rounder like worms. Centipedes are flat.
- Bugscope Teamalso, millipedes have two sets of legs per segment and centipedes have one
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of a female earwig
- Bugscope Teamit is pretty gunked up, pretty dirty
- Bugscope Teamits face is covered with some kind of juju
- 12:28 pm
- Bugscope TeamMs G we are going to have to let someone else use the microscope at 12:30 here
- Bugscope Teamlet's go to the mite, quickly, and then we have to quit
- Teacherokay... thanks so much we all enjoyed getting up close and personal with the insects. we like out new words too1
- Bugscope Teamglad you all enjoyed it!
- Bugscope Teamthat is a mite on the body of the earwig, with a scale from an insect on its back
- Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Bugscope Teamwe had a really good time with you all today
- Bugscope TeamThank You, and we look forward to seeing you next year!
- Bugscope Teamhttps://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2012-074
- Bugscope Teambelow is a link to this session
- Bugscope TeamBye!!!...
