Connected on 2013-11-25 08:00:00
from Sullivan, Tennessee, United States
- 7:10 am
- Bugscope Teamtoday's sample is in the 'scope and pumping down
- 7:17 am
- 7:24 am
- 7:32 am
- 7:37 am
- 7:45 am
- Bugscope Teamnow we're making presets for today's session
- 7:53 am
- Bugscope Teamgood morning Mr Wolf!
- Guestgood morning!
- Guest(watching from biology class in guadalajara, mx)
- Bugscope TeamI don't know if our class will be on today or not
- Bugscope Teamif they do not show up we can give you control of the microscope
- 7:58 am
- Guestok, sweet!
- 8:03 am
- Bugscope TeamMr. Wolf you now have control of the microscope, as you can tell
- Bugscope Teamyou can click on any of the presets on the lefthand screen to get the microscope to drive to those positions
- Bugscope Teamand you can also drive from where you are now
- Bugscope Teamincrease the mag, decrease the mag, click on the screen to center a feature...
- Bugscope Teamfocus is up or down, so if you click to focus and it gets worse, go the other way
- Bugscope Teamthis is a true bug
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that it has a long proboscis with piercing/sucking mouthparts
- Bugscope Teambecause I am sitting at the microscope, I can fix focus more quickly than you
- Guestnice, thanks
- Bugscope Teambe sure to note that you can click on any of the presets, once you feel like looking at something else
- 8:09 am
- Bugscope Teamwe can see that the proboscis is very long
- Bugscope Teambedbugs have a proboscis like this, and they can stick it out in front of their head
- Bugscope Teamthis bug seems to have a stink gland, to the lower right
- Bugscope Teamlike a stinkbug
- Bugscope Teamplease let me know whenever I can help or answer questions
- Bugscope Teamyou can click on Magnification to make the 'scope go to a higher mag
- Bugscope Team(click +)
- Guestso we can look at the wasp head?
- Bugscope Teamyes just click on it
- Bugscope Teamis the control not working?
- 8:14 am
- Guestdoesn't seem to be
- Bugscope TeamI just clicked on one of them
- Guestthere it is
- Bugscope Teamcool
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the compound eye, and also the ocelli, but not now
- Bugscope Teamthe flake-like things are scales from a moth or butterfly
- Bugscope Teamthere is a film of goo on the surface of the compound eye, I'm sorry
- Bugscope Teamnot something we can see at the macro level
- Bugscope Teambut not all of the insects will have goo on their eyes
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that the surface of the head is covered with tiny setae
- Bugscope Teamthose are likely sensory setae
- Bugscope Teamchemosensors, mechanosensors, thermosensors
- Bugscope Teamthe pitting in the cuticle likely gives the head of the wasp a sheen -- a shiny appearance
- 8:19 am
- Bugscope Teamthe cuticle is chitin -- the exoskeleton of the wasp
- Bugscope TeamI'm sorry about the juju on the surface of the cuticle
- Bugscope Teamplease feel free to ask us to go to another place, when you are ready
- Guestis the cuticle referring to the pitted area or the setae?
- Bugscope Teamthe pitted area is the cuticle -- the surface of the exoskeleton, which is made of chitin, kind of like what our fingernails are made of
- Guestand the setae, what is it made of?
- Bugscope Teamthe setae stick through the cuticle and connect to nerves below
- Bugscope Teamthe setae are also made of chitin but have a sensory function, in this case
- Bugscope Teamthere are two ocelli
- Bugscope Teamocelli are simple eyes
- Bugscope Teamthere are usually three ocelli on the top of the head
- Bugscope Teamof flies, wasps, and bees
- Bugscope Teamthey help the insects keep track of their position with respect to the sun
- 8:24 am
- Bugscope Teamkind of like spider eyes
- Bugscope Teamwhich are often weak
- Guestthis thing?
Bugscope Teamyes -- not much we can see, though
- Guestok, we're ready for the beetle head
- Bugscope Teamwith a scanning electron microscope we are restricted to see the surfaces of things -- we cannot see far into anything
- Bugscope Teameven water looks like a solid
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the mandibles, which open side to side like a gate
- Bugscope Teamyou can also see the jointed antennae
- Bugscope Teamlittle bubbles
- Bugscope Teamthe mandibles have kind of forked ends
- Bugscope Teambeetles and many other insects have two sets of palps, which are accessory mouthparts
- Bugscope Teamthe palps help the insect taste and also maneuver its food
- Bugscope Teamright in the mouth now
- 8:30 am
- Bugscope Teamthe thing on top is called the clypeus, and it moves as well
- Bugscope Teamso the mandibles can open further than we see here
- Bugscope Teamthe bristles on the head, and also on the leg, are mostly mechanoreceptors, we think
- Bugscope Teamthe palp we see in the center is pointed, and it should have chemoreceptors on it, like tastebuds
- Guestso this is part of the mouth and the antennae?
Bugscope Teamyes! tje antenna is running diagonally, a bit, right in front of everything else
- Bugscope Teamthe cone-shaped thing to the right center is one of the palps
- Bugscope Teamthe palp has sensillae we can now see on the top portion
- Bugscope Teamthese are the platelike components of the cuticle
- Bugscope Teamsee the diagonal lines to the right?
- 8:35 am
- Guestya?
- Bugscope Teamthose are chemosensors -- I'm sorry we cannot see them directly
- Bugscope Teamthey are called sensillae
- Guestcool
- Bugscope Teamthey are also dirty, we can see
- Bugscope Teamthe compound eyes are dirty too
- Guestoh sorry
Bugscope Teamno problem at all!
- Bugscope Teamplease let us know when you would like to go somewhere else, or concentrate on something here
- 8:41 am
- Bugscope TeamI just took us to the ladybug larva
- Guestwhat do we have here?
- Bugscope Teamladybug larva are scary-looking
- Bugscope Teamthey are predators, just as ladybug adults are
- Guestno eyes?
Bugscope Teamthe eyes are tiny bumps near the antennae
- Bugscope Teamthe thing to the lower right we saw a second ago is the body of an aphid
- Bugscope Teamladybugs like to eat aphids
- Bugscope Teamaphids are softbodied, so they shrivel up when they die -- they dry up
- Guestright, good for the garden?
Bugscope Teamyes!
- Bugscope Teamthis is the surface of the head
- Bugscope Teamthe antenna is the largest bump
- Bugscope Teamthe eyes are small bumps
- Bugscope Teamnow we're centered on an aphid
- Bugscope Teambecause they shrivel up, it is often hard to tell which parts are which
- 8:46 am
- Bugscope Teamit's like you took a bagpipe and threw it on a bed -- you cannot tell what is what
- Bugscope Teamto the left I am not sure what we're seeing
- Bugscope Teamthese are palps
- Bugscope Teamat the tips they have things like tastebuds
- Bugscope Teamyou can also see one of the forked mandibles
- Bugscope Teama lot of debris here
- Bugscope Teamthey do not get compound eyes until they metamorphose into adults
- Guestwhats this crease?
Bugscope Teamthis is where the clypeus -- a platelike part of the mouth, fits onto the head
- 8:51 am
- Bugscope Teamwe can see a rudimentary antenna
- Bugscope Teamand lots of large spines that protect the larva from getting eaten
- Bugscope Teamantennae often have lots of chemoreceptors
- Guestdoes it have a chitin exoskeleton as a larvae or is it more skin linke?
Bugscope Teamit is still the same type of exoskeleton. It is usually just a thinner layer that is a little more flexible sometimes
- Guestcool, so you mentioned pores earlier. do exoskeletons have proes like our skin?
Bugscope Teamthey have spiracles
- Bugscope Teami think they are pretty similar
- 8:56 am
- Guestis that what we're looking at now?
- Bugscope Teamthis is a small fly, and we can see a spiracle -- covered with fine, filtering setae -- in the upper middle portion of where we are now
- Bugscope Teamthe thing with a shriveled end like a fist is a haltere
- Bugscope Teamspiracles are found on the sides of body segments, and they can be opened and closed to let air in and out
- Guestis there a tiny strucutre we could really test the limits or resolution with
- Bugscope Teamthis microscope can go up to around 200,000x and still make out features
- Guestmy students would like to know what the max magnification is
Bugscope Teamwhen we use the microscope for research we are closer to the polepiece and get better resolution than we will today
- Bugscope Teamon a day like today, when we are looking at insects, we usually go no higher than 40,000x at best because there usually isn't anything interesting to see at much higher
- Guestwhat do we have here?
- Bugscope Teamhere we see pollen grains, some mold spores, some long, narrow things that resemble brochosomes from leafhoppers, and some setae, of course
- 9:02 am
- Bugscope Teamtiny mold spore
- Bugscope Teampollen grain..
- Guestok, this class is about to end so we have to go
- Guestthis was super cool
- Guestthank you so much
Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Bugscope Teamfun for us!
- Bugscope Teamplease feel free to apply for a session with us in the future
