Connected on 2014-09-10 23:30:00
from South Delhi, Delhi, India
- 11:05 pm
- Bugscope TeamStill setting up the presets.
- 11:11 pm
- Bugscope TeamHello, K and Hannah!
- 11:17 pm
- 11:23 pm
- 11:28 pm
- Teacherhello
- Teacheris all set, children are waiting!!
- Bugscope TeamMBK you have control of the microscope.
- Bugscope Teamyou may click on any of the presets, to the left (on the lefthand screen), and the microscope will drive to the selected position.
- Bugscope Teamthe children may log in if there are computers for them, as students, or you may type questions they may have for us
- Bugscope Teamthis is a cucumber beetle
- Bugscope TeamMBK you may also control the microscope directly, using the tools at the top of the viewing screen
- Bugscope Teamdo you see my messages?
- Teacheryes
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of a leafhopper
- 11:33 pm
- Teacherthanks for providing session
- Bugscope Teamyou can see its antennae, and you can see its eyes, although it is hard to recognize them
- Bugscope Teamits mouthparts are down low in the current view
- Bugscope TeamGood! You have control over the scope. You can move by clicking on the image (once, not double-clicking), you can change the mag etc. by clicking on +/- buttons, and you can go to a preset. To get to the presets, click on the leftwards pointing blue arrow, then select one from the given list.
- Teacherdoes it have eye?
Bugscope Teamyes it has two eyes, and we can see them now
Bugscope Teamthe eyes are streamlined into the head
- Teacherhow does an electron microscope differ from a normal microscope
Bugscope Teamit uses electrons rather than light to produce images; the samples in this case at least must be coated with a conductive metal; it provides better resolution compared to light because electrons are so small compared to the wavelengths of visible light
- Bugscope Teamthe facets of teh eye are called ommatidia
- 11:38 pm
- Bugscope Teamthe leafhopper has ommatidia as well, but in the case of the leafhopper they are streamlined and covered with brochosomes
- Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye of a very small ant
Bugscope Teameach of those bumps are called ommatidia
Bugscope Teameach of these ommatidia help collect a part of the image
Bugscope Teamthis creates a sort of mosaic to create a complete image for the insect, in this case, an ant
Bugscope Teamthe number of ommatidia in different insect species varies. Within ants, ants eyes can have hundreds or thousands of ommatidia or less than ten. sometimes they have lost their eyes completely
- Bugscope Teaminsects and comparable arthropods have an exoskeleton, like a hard shell, or like armor
- Teacherwhat's that hair like strand on the leftern most ommatidia
Bugscope Teamthose are sensory setae that help the ant feel what might be touching its eye
Bugscope TeamYou'll find setae all over the place. I'm sure you'll see more on the other insects. Good work contolling the scope to isolate it.
- 11:43 pm
- Bugscope Teamsome insects have, in addition to the two compound eyes they may or may not have, three other simple eyes called ocelli
- Teacherwhy does the ant need so many eyes?
Bugscope TeamTechnically the ant only has two "eyes". The ommatidia are individual units of the compound insect eye. The ant needs each ommatidia to help form the complete image that the ant sees.
Bugscope TeamThe moth head preset has an excellent view of an eye typical of many lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).
- Bugscope Teammost ants and insects that spend a lot of time in the dark or underground and otherwise not have a great need for vision tend to have a reduced amount of ommatidia
Bugscope Teamdragonflies on the other hand have lots of facets on their compound eye, since they rely heavily on vision to hunt
- Bugscope Teamsetae can be mechanosensory, chemosensory, and thermosensory
- TeacherDo insects sweat?
Bugscope Teamthey do not sweat, but they control the influx and efflux of liquids using their spiracles
- 11:48 pm
- Teacherplease reply bros
- TeacherIs that the eye that we are watching
Bugscope Teamthe eyes are on the sides of the head, next to the anntenae (one of them is broken off)
- Bugscope TeamThe antenna on the right side is broken off.
- 11:54 pm
- Bugscope TeamI think these pits are chemoreceptors.
- Teacherwhat is the size of a mite?
Bugscope TeamThis one is about 1mm. In the lower left of the image is a scale bar that helps you estimate sizes on the screen. Mites are often just a tiny fraction of the size of their hosts.
Bugscope TeamMaybe 0.5mm.
Bugscope TeamNot all mites are parasitic. Some free living mites, like the velvet mites, are large enough to see relatively clearly with the naked eye
Bugscope TeamTrue true! Was focused on the parasitic ones we often see here. Thanks for that up!
- Bugscope TeamScott zoomed in on that. Very impatient. ADHD.
Bugscope TeamOr caffeine.
- Bugscope TeamHamuli !
- 11:59 pm
- Bugscope TeamAnts do almost all of their communication via chemicals.
- Bugscope Teamthe spiracles are tiny pores on the sides of each body segment that the insets can open and close
Bugscope Teamthese spiracles is how air gets in and the oxygen is then brought directly to each cell
Bugscope TeamThe air travels through the spiracles into ducts called tracheae, which eventually thin out into smaller ducts called tracheoles, which eventually supply oxygen directly to the cells
Bugscope Teamunlike vertebrates, which use their blood to transport oxygen to cells, insects use their spiracles and tracheae to do so
- Teacherwhat is a spiracle??
Bugscope TeamThey are openings to the insects respiratory system. Insects do not use their blood to transport oxygen, but instead have a series of ducts called tracheae which provide oxygen directly to the cells. The openings to these ducts are called spiracles
- Teacherwhat is a hamuli?
Bugscope TeamIn the order hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps), the front and hind pairs of wings are linked together by a series of microscopic hooks called hamuli. This allows these insects to flap their two pairs of wings simultaneously, which allows them to manipulate more easily when they fly and to fly faster. Many more advanced insect groups have evolved so that they only use one pair of wings for flight, or so that their two pairs of wings are linked. some moths also have their two pairs of wings linked, but using a more primitive mechanism.
Bugscope Teamin moths they are called frenulum and retinaculum, it's a bristle and a hook, respectively.
Bugscope TeamThanks Joe, I always forget what they are called in moths
- 12:04 am
- Bugscope TeamWe did not see any spiracles while we were setting up the session.
Bugscope TeamSpiracles are typically located on the sides of insect abdomens and thoraxes. Since most of these insects appear to be laying on their backs, it may be difficult to see them
- Bugscope TeamScott is tweaking the focus for you to save time.
- Teacherwhat is a palp?
Bugscope TeamA palp is one of the insects mouth parts. They are typically used to taste and manipulate food items, and are effectively the "tongues of insects". Insects usually have two pairs of palps, the labial and maxillary palps
- TeacherThanks
Bugscope TeamNo problem :)
- 12:10 am
- Bugscope TeamMBK, these are on the leafhopper.
- Teacherwhat are brochosomes?
- Bugscope TeamBrochosomes are nanoparticles that are produced by leafhoppers, in the Malpighian tubules.
- Bugscope TeamLeafhoppers spread them on their bodies in what is called an anointing behavior.
- Bugscope TeamSometimes they are ovoid.
- Bugscope TeamBrochosomes are sometimes thought to help preserve eggs from desiccation.
Bugscope TeamAre brochosomes unique to leafhoppers or do other insects produce them as well?
Bugscope TeamThey are thought to be unique to leafhoppers.
Bugscope TeamI don't think I've ever heard of them before. I guess I learned something today!
- 12:15 am
- Teacheris this maximum focus?
- Bugscope TeamIn our experience they are usually 250 to 400 nm in diameter.
- Bugscope TeamWe are pushing the limits of resolution at this working distance.
- Bugscope TeamThis is the inside of the specimen chamber.
- Bugscope TeamIt is under vacuum.
- Bugscope TeamThis is one of the leafhopper's compound eyes.
- Teacherwow!! how cool is that!
- Bugscope TeamDo the students have any questions?
- 12:21 am
- Bugscope TeamThis is a huge wasp that we found in the parking garage.
- Bugscope TeamThese are the palps.
- Bugscope TeamYou can see the compound eye on the left.
- Bugscope TeamSee the tiny hexagons.
- Bugscope TeamYou can see there are some mechanosensory setae like the ones you found on the ant's eye.
- 12:27 am
- Bugscope TeamWhen we operate the scanning electron microscope for research, we use a shorter working distance and thus get better resolution. The trade-off is that at a shorter working distance, we cannot go to a very low magnification, which allows us to see more of each insect.
- Bugscope Team5 o'clock shadow forming...
- Bugscope TeamIt is about time for us to shut down. Do you have any questions for us?
- Bugscope TeamThis is the wasp claw. The central portion we see now helps it adhere to surfaces.
- Bugscope TeamThis is the wasp claw. The central portion we see now helps it adhere to surfaces.
- Bugscope TeamOops. How did that happen?
- Bugscope TeamTotally cool photos!
- 12:32 am
- Bugscope TeamThanks for the photos! We LOVE getting feedback like that from classrooms. Hello everybody!!!!
- Bugscope TeamI see you are using Ubuntu! Linux users, UNITE!
- Bugscope TeamNice image, nice control of the microscope!
- Bugscope Teamand not a cat.
- 12:38 am
- Bugscope TeamNice ants.
- 12:44 am
- Bugscope Teamtime for us to go...
- Bugscope TeamRaghav we have enjoyed working with you and your class -- this is the inaugural Bugscope session of the season!
- Bugscope TeamThank you all so much for participating! You did an excellent job! I hope everyone had fun and learned some things. :)
- Bugscope Teamthis is a transcript of your session: http://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2014-061
- Bugscope TeamGoodbye, Everyone!
- Bugscope TeamThank you!
