Connected on 2013-12-04 13:00:00
from Chatham, Georgia, United States
- 7:39 am
- Bugscope Teamsample placed in the 'scope a few minutes ago
- Bugscope Teamthis is the CCD camera view
- 7:47 am
- TeacherThat is really a cool picture!
- Bugscope Teamit's an infrared camera image of the inside of the sample chamber
- Bugscope Teamfrom the back of the chamber toward the door
- Bugscope Teamthe person who was using the 'scope last night did not pump the chamber when he was done, so it will take a bit longer for the sample to pump down this morning. but we should be fine.
- TeacherAre you able to leave this camera image up for the students? Or do you need to continue to prepare the spcimens?
Bugscope TeamWe can switch to this image anytime during the connection with the students, so you can just ask us to show you the inside of the chamber.
- TeacherYea, that would be awesome! I think they would really like to see this!
- Bugscope Teamonce the 'scope is ready, we'll be using the electron beam to set up and collect the presets for today's session
- Bugscope Teamthen, anytime; sometimes we show this during a session, sometimes not
- TeacherOkay!
- 7:53 am
- Bugscope TeamI think just a few more minutes before the vacuum is good enough to start setup
- TeacherAll righty!
- Bugscope Teamalmost there...
- TeacherTake your time. :-)
- Bugscope Teamwe have a hand-drawn map of the sample we use to help us find each specimen
- TeacherYea, that makes sense. Is prep usually around an hour for most sessions?
- Bugscope Teamoften we can cruise through and get it done in 35 or 40 minutes, especially if there are two of us working
- TeacherNice
- 7:59 am
- Bugscope Teammaking the sample itself takes 15 or 20 minutes, unless we need to do critical point drying, which can take 30 or 40 minutes itself
- TeacherHow do you do the critical point drying?
- Bugscope Teamoops sorry I had started an answer... having problems with the vacuum
- Bugscope TeamI'm going to need to restart the SEM software
- Bugscope Teamjust a minute...
- 8:04 am
- Bugscope Teamokay we should be back online now
- TeacherYep, it is back online! I will be back in a few minutes.
- Bugscope Teamcool!
- 8:09 am
- 8:15 am
- 8:21 am
- 8:28 am
- 8:33 am
- 8:38 am
- 8:44 am
- Bugscope Teamwe are ready to roll
- Bugscope Teambe right back
- Bugscope Teamif there's time we may make a couple more presets
- TeacherStudents will be in the lab in about 10 minutes.
- 8:50 am
- Bugscope Teamcool!
- 8:55 am
- Teacherwe are almost ready...
- 9:07 am
- TeacherGive station 1 control, please :-)
Bugscope Teamgot it!
- Bugscope Teamthese are butterfly wing scales way up close
- Bugscope Teamthe first preset we did moved
- Bugscope Teamthis is awesome
- Bugscope Teamrolypolies are not insects, perhaps obviously, because they have more than six legs
- Bugscope Teamthey're crustaceans, like crabs and lobsters
- Studentwhat are they
- Bugscope Teamthey're supposed to have gills somewhere here at the end of the body, but we're not sure what they look like
- Studentwhy dont they live in the ocean
Bugscope Teamsome versions of them do live in the ocean
Bugscope Teamgood call!
- Bugscope Teamthis is a single palp -- one of the mouthparts of a beetle, in this case
- 9:12 am
- Bugscope Teampalps are accessory mouthparts many insects have that help them taste and also maneuver food into their mouths
- Studentwhat is a beetle palp
Bugscope Teamthere are two sets of them -- often they have chemosensory structures
Bugscope Teamthey're little feelers, like extra arms just for the mouth, just for feeding
- TeacherGive control to station 2, please :-)
Bugscope Teamgot it!
- Bugscope Teamcool this is the yellowjacket
- Bugscope Teamsee its serrated mandibles?
- Bugscope Teaminsect jaws often open left and right like a gate, unlike ours
- Studentsir
- Studentwhere are the eyes
Bugscope Teamthey are top the left and right, the large bulbous things
- Bugscope Team'to' the left and right
- StudentIs it a girl or boy?
Bugscope Teamwe didn't see any signs of a stinger, so it might be a boy. Though most ants, bees, and wasps you see are girls
- Bugscope Teamnow we're way close up on one of the compound eyes
- 9:18 am
- TeacherGive control to station 4, please :-)
Bugscope Teamthey have control
- Bugscope Teamyou can see a seta across the bottom of the image, out of focus
- Bugscope Teamthis is totally gnarly
- Bugscope Teamthe palps we see now have holes in them
- Bugscope Teamnow you can see the compound eye
- Bugscope Teamgood job driving!
- StudentWhat are those holes that the setae are coming out of?
Bugscope Teamthey are little pits, and we are not really sure what they do: there are a number of options for what they can do, including giving the wasp a shiny black appearance, strengthening the cuticle there, and also affecting the sound the wasp makes when it flies
- Bugscope Teamthis is a small crystal -- some kind of chemical that formed in this area, which is covered with a biofilm
- Bugscope Teambacteria lay down biofilms, which are kind of like thin Jell-O that they swim around in
- 9:23 am
- Studentwhat looks like a star
Bugscope Teamthat is the crystal, some combination of chemicals like calcium carbonate
- TeacherGive control to station 5, please :-)
Bugscope Teamstation 5 is now the supreme ruler
- Bugscope Teamso cool!
- Bugscope Teamthis is the underside of a daddylonglegs spider
- Bugscope Teamthey look like crabs much more than they resemble spiders, up close
- Bugscope Teamthey have these cute little pincers
- Bugscope Teaminsects and similar arthropods like spiders have lots of sensory setae (see-tee)
- StudentCould a pinch from this insect be deadly?
Bugscope Teamno not at all. and usually they leave people alone and stick to 'pinching' insects
- Bugscope Teamthe pincers are so small you would likely not feel them
- Bugscope Teamthis is part of the thorax of the moth
- StudentAre they afraid of water?\
Bugscope Teamthey seem to avoid water; they don't do well in it
Bugscope Teamso I would say Yes
- 9:28 am
- Bugscope Teamthe scales come off easily, like when you rub the wing of a butterfly they are the powder that comes off
- StudentWhat is that?
Bugscope Teamwe are somewhere on the moth looking at an area where scales have come off
- Bugscope Teamwhen a moth or butterfly flies into a spider web, the scales stick to the web and the insect is more likely to be able to escape
- TeacherGive control to station 6, please :-)
Bugscope Teamgot it!
- Bugscope Teamcute little cucumber beetle
- Bugscope Teamit has remnants of food all over its face -- a messy eater
- Student*eat
- Bugscope Teambut also, mold has taken over
- StudentHow did the mold get there?
Bugscope Teamit happened some time after it died. if the beetle is moist at all, the water attracts mold
- StudentWhy is it called a cucumber beetle ?
- Studentwhy is it called the cucumber beetle
Bugscope Teamthey are found around cucumbers and melons, and they feed on them, so they cause damage to them as crops
- Bugscope Teamsee the compound eye?>
- Bugscope Teamthe facets are called ommatidia
- 9:33 am
- Bugscope Teaminsects with compound eyes often have better peripheral vision
- Bugscope Teamalso, compound eyes update more quickly so the insects can see when something is trying to catch them
- Bugscope Teamthose are bacteria
- Bugscope Teamrod-shaped bacteria are called bacilli, and there are lots of different kinds that look like this
- TeacherGive control to station 7, please :-)
Bugscope Teamstation 7 has control
- StudentWhat kind of bacteria is this?
Bugscope Teamwe do not know for sure
Bugscope TeamE. coli look like that, but so do Shigella and even anthrax bacteria
- Bugscope Teamsee the compound eye of the aphid in the center?
- Bugscope Teamaphids have soft bodies, so when they die they shrivel quite a lot
- Bugscope Teamthis is a ladybug larva, kind of a mean-looking little dude
- Bugscope Teamladybugs are predators both as larvae and as adults
- Bugscope Teamits head is to the north
- Bugscope Teama caterpillar is a larval insect
- Bugscope Teamnow you can see where we found the little star-shaped crystal
- 9:38 am
- TeacherGive control to station 8, please :-)
Bugscope Teamgot it!
- Studentwhat is that?
Bugscope Teamthese are on the wasp's antenna. they are special pits that sense chemicals for communication
- Bugscope Teaminsects pay much more attention to chemical scents than we do
- StudentWhat kind of chemicals do they sense?
Bugscope Teamsome of them are pheromones, which the males used to attract the females or the females use to attract the males; some represent commands or information, as with ants
- TeacherThis will be the end of this session. :-)
- StudentThank You!
- Studentthanks!!!!!!!
- StudentTHANK YOU !
- Bugscope Teamthank you
- StudentThank you both once again!!! Goodbye :)
- Bugscope Teamif you smear a live ant with the smell of a dead ant, for example, the ants that do the cleanup will carry the live ants away, even if they are obviously alive
- Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Bugscope TeamBye!
- 9:43 am
- Bugscope TeamThank You, Everyone!
- TeacherI will see you again at 1:30. :-)
- Bugscope Teamsee you! thank you!
- 12:11 pm
- TeacherSession Two Marker
- Bugscope Teamhello!
- TeacherHey Scot! Students will be in the lab in 15ish minutes.
- Bugscope Teamsuper cool
- Bugscope Teamthe Hunchback of Notre Dame
- TeacherHaha!
- 12:18 pm
- Bugscope Teampoor thing even has a cracked head
- TeacherAw, poor thing!
- 12:27 pm
- TeacherWe will start in about 5 minutes.
- Studentthat's really digusting
Bugscope Teamhaha
- Bugscope Teamit's a baby ladybug
- Bugscope Teamyeah it's a baby!
- TeacherGive control to group one
Bugscope Teamthey have control...
- StudentDo you guy's know what happened to its head
Bugscope TeamCate mashed it with some forceps.
Bugscope Teamafter it died
- Bugscope Teamafter insects die, they dry out and tend to break easily
- StudentThat's actually pretty cool
- 12:33 pm
- Bugscope Teamthis is a rolypoly, which is not an insect but a crustacean, like a crab or lobster
- StudentIs that the anus
Bugscope Teamno it is actually the head
- StudentDo they have eyes?
Bugscope Teamyes they have compound eyes that are being partially obscured by the antennae and the back shell
- Studentwhat is it
Bugscope Teamit's a rolypoly, pillbug, woodlouse...
- Studentwhy does it look flat..
Bugscope Teamit really does look flat across the front of the head, not sure why
- Studentwho is answering the questions?
Bugscope TeamCate and me, here at the University of Illinois, at the Beckman Institute
- Studentwhat exactly is this?
- Bugscope Teamthis is a crystal, likely calcium carbonate, something like that
- Bugscope Teamthe surrounding dried material appears to be a biofilm, produced by bacteria, and now dry
- TeacherGive control to station 2
Bugscope Teamgot it!
Bugscope Teamthey have it
- Studentwhere are the ladybug larva generally located?
Bugscope TeamI believe they are found on plants, about the same places as ladybugs, but they cannot fly
- 12:38 pm
- Studentspikes on
- Bugscope Teamif you take the mag down lower I think you'll be able to see where you are
- Studentwhat part of the yellow jacket is that?
Bugscope Teamthis is on one of the tarsi, which are the final five or so segments of one of the limbs
- Studentwhat are the spikeson it
Bugscope Teamthey are little sticky hairs (setae), and sensory setae
- Bugscope Teamnow you can see that we were at pretty high mag before
- Bugscope Teamcool you know you are driving a $600,000 scanning electron microscope from your classroom
- TeacherGive control to station 3
Bugscope Teamthey have it
- Bugscope Teamthis is a true bug -- a Hemipteran
- Studentwhat is it
- StudentWhat Is That ?
- Bugscope Teamthis is a palp. they help the bug to taste and move around food
- Bugscope Teamambush bugs, assassin bugs, and bedbugs, as well as stinkbugs, are true bugs
- StudentWhat is a true bug?
Bugscope Teamthey have piercing/sucking mouthparts (also, cicadas), and their wings are partly hardened
- 12:43 pm
- StudentIs It Missing A Leg ?
Bugscope Teamyes
- Studentwhat is a hemipteran?
Bugscope Teamhemi- means 'half,' and pteran means 'winged.' like a pterodactyl is winged fingers
- TeacherGive control to station 4
Bugscope Teamgot it
- StudentAre true bugs deadly?
Bugscope Teamusually not
Bugscope Teamsome eat plant juices and some eat other insects, so some are deadly to other insects
- StudentAre all spiders harmful to humans
Bugscope Teamno, but they all produce venom
- Bugscope Teamthese are in the spider family but seem more like crabs themselves
- Bugscope Teamso cool they have these super tiny pincers
- Studentwhat is thiss....
- Bugscope Teamhere we see the face of the hemipteran. with both of its antennae missing
- Bugscope Teamthe compound eyes are on either side
- TeacherGive control to station 5
Bugscope Teamgot it!
- Bugscope Teamwhen hemipterans have triple jointed probosces, they are usually predators of other insects
- Studentare some insects hermaphrodites
Bugscope TeamI believe that is true.
Bugscope Teamyes there are some. the scale insect is one
- 12:49 pm
- StudentHow do most insects feed.
Bugscope Teamsome flies have sponging mouthparts, and some have slashing/cutting mouthparts
Bugscope Teamsome insects have piercing/sucking mouthparts like the true bugs
Bugscope Teamsome have chewing mouthparts
Bugscope Teamsome do not feed at all as adults
Bugscope Teambutterflies and moths often have long tubes, like straws, they use to suck up nectar
- Studentno
- Studenthave you guys ever looked at human skin cells
Bugscope Teamwe have looked at huiman epithelial breast cells, which form ducts; I don't believ we've looked at skin cells
- TeacherGive control to station 6
Bugscope Teamgot it!
- StudentAbout how much bacteria is on the beetle?
Bugscope Teamhard to tell; they form those biofilms and then live within them, sort of like swimming through thin Jell-O
- Studentwhat are the humps called?
Bugscope Teamthose were facets of the compound eye, called ommatidia
- Studentwhat are epithelial breast cells
Bugscope Teamthey are human cells that produce milk
Bugscope Teamthey form the ducts that produce milk
- 12:55 pm
- Bugscope Teamthis is a cute little cucumber beetle with lots of leftover food and fungus on its face
- TeacherGive control to station 7
- StudentWhat are the eyes made of?
Bugscope Teamthey are made of chitin- the same as the rest of the exoskeleton
- Studentwhat kind of mold is that
Bugscope TeamI really don't know; I'm sure it has some kind of name, some kind of mycelium-like name
- Studentalright
- Bugscope Teamnow you can see the ommatidia that make up the beetle's compound eye
- Bugscope Teamthe strands of fungus are called hyphae
- TeacherGive control to station 7 :-)
Bugscope Teamice station 7 has control
- Bugscope Teamthis is awesome
- Bugscope Teamsee the mandibles?
- Bugscope Teamthey're like opposed forks, or sporks
- Bugscope Teamthe antennae are covered with chemosensory features called sensillae
- 1:00 pm
- StudentAre they in the wasp family and do they have stingers that they can sting multiple time?s
Bugscope Teamyes they are, and yes they do, but we did not see a stinger on that one; it might have been a male
- Bugscope Teamin the middle here you can see an aphid's eye
- TeacherGive control to station 8
Bugscope Team8 are the rulers
- Bugscope Teamgnarly
- Bugscope Teamthis is the abdomen of the baby ladybug, so cute
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that it is lying next to a beetle
- Bugscope Teampincers!
- Bugscope TeamI did this move...
- Bugscope Teamsee the spider's eyes?
- Bugscope Teamthey're at the top
- TeacherThis will end our session.
- Bugscope Teamthere they are
- Bugscope Teamthanks!
- StudentThank you Scot and Cate, you were just as much of a help today as from yesterday.
- Bugscope TeamThank You
- StudentThanks
- Studentthank yiy
- StudentThank you so much for this opportunity! :) We really enjoyed this experience , and hope to do it again one day.
- StudentThank you guys!!
- Studentthank you very much
- Studentthanks cate and scot
- Bugscope TeamThank You, Everyone!
- 1:05 pm
- Bugscope Teamsuper fun for us
- Bugscope Teamgood bye!