Connected on 2015-03-03 09:00:00
from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States
- 9:02 am
- Bugscope Teamventing the microscope
- Bugscope Teamin a minute we'll be putting today's sample in
- Bugscope Teamstinkbug, moth, weevil, wasps, leafhopper, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes...
- Bugscope Teamsample is now in the 'scope and pumping down
- 9:09 am
- Bugscope Team1.7
- Bugscope Teamnot so bad
- Bugscope Team1.5
- Bugscope Team1.3
- Bugscope Teamyellow fever, chikingunya, dengue fever, among others, for Ae aegypti
- 9:17 am
- 9:22 am
- 9:31 am
- 9:37 am
- Bugscope Teamhi subda
- 9:43 am
- 9:51 am
- 9:56 am
- Bugscope TeamSubda are you still here? Our school has not connected with us yet...
- 10:14 am
- Bugscope Teamwe'll give this just a few more minutes; if we don't hear from anyone we'll shut down for today
- 10:29 am
- Bugscope Teamshutting down...
- 7:47 am
- Bugscope Teamnew day
- Bugscope Teamthis is March 3, 2015
- Bugscope Teamsetup for today's session
- 7:52 am
- Bugscope Teamventing chamber
- Bugscope Teamsample is now in chamber
- Bugscope Teamand pumping down
- Bugscope Teamwe will start making presets once the vacuum is good
- 8:13 am
- 8:19 am
- 8:24 am
- 8:30 am
- 8:36 am
- 8:42 am
- Bugscope Teamwe are ready to roll!
- 8:48 am
- 8:55 am
- Bugscope Teamnice sample today
- Bugscope Teamgood morning! Welcome to Bugscope!
- Bugscope Teamwe had freezing rain here overnight
- Bugscope Teamso it was a little tricky getting in
- Bugscope Teamyou are set up to drive; if you click on any of the presets on the lefthand screen, the microscope will drive to that position on the stage
- TeacherHi, This is Mrs. D. I am here with 23 6th graders. We have been studying echinoderms and other invertebrates.
- Bugscope Teamsweet!
- Bugscope Teamthis is some kind of predatory fly -- I'm sorry I don't know what it is
- TeacherWhat are we looking at now?
- Bugscope Teambut it has slashing-cutting mouthparts like a deerfly or horsefly
- 9:00 am
- Bugscope Teamto the right we see that a stinkbug is reaching one of its arms toward the fly
- TeacherWe would love to see the compound eye up close.
Bugscope Teamyou can click + on the magnification bar above the screen -- do you see it?
- Bugscope TeamI just did it myself.
- Bugscope TeamHello everyone!
- Bugscope Teamwe can see that there are thousands of ommatidia -- the individual facets of the compound eye -- per eye
- Bugscope Teamsometimes they are perfect hexagons
- Bugscope TeamBased on the dip in the head between the eyes, I'd say this is probably a Robber Fly - Family name: Asilidae
- TeacherWe have several students who want to become scientists. What is the small thing you are focused on?
- Bugscope Teamthis looks like a mold spore, nestled among the ommatidia
- Bugscope Teamwe have better mold spores to look at on the trapjaw any ehad
- Bugscope Teamhead
- 9:05 am
- Bugscope TeamHooray! I hope there are some girls in that group :) - as a female entomologist, I must encourage this :)
- TeacherHow does the mold get there, students ask?
Bugscope Teammold is always present in the air, and especially in moist spaces
Bugscope Teamit is kind of opportunistic; if given the chance it will take hold, grow, and start the decomposition process
- Bugscope Teamthese mold spores are a bit desiccated
- Bugscope Teamif you take the magnification down, you can see where this is on the head of the trapjaw ant
- TeacherThank you! Could we do some more mouth parts?
Bugscope Teamlet's look at the borer mouthparts
- Bugscope TeamNot this ant in particular, but there are some ants - specifically leaf cutters that feed on fungus, so many time they have fungal spores on them
- Bugscope Teamoh this is good -- you can see the head of the trapjaw ant. its mandibles (jaws) go off to the left
- Bugscope TeamTrapjaw ants! This ladies has extremely powerful mandibles.
- TeacherIs that a compound eye in the middle? The bump?
Bugscope Teamyes it is!
- 9:10 am
- Bugscope Teamhere you could probably count the ommatidia
- Bugscope Teamthese ants usually have their jaws open at 180 degrees and sometimes when they snap shut they go flying through the air
Bugscope TeamThis is a method of predator evasion
- TeacherWow! What are the little lines around the eye?
Bugscope Teamif we go up in mag, we will see that they are tiny setae (hairs)
Bugscope Teamsetae are often sensory -- they stick through the exoskeleton, which is a kind of shell, and they help the insect taste, smell, and feel its environment
- Bugscope Teamsome setae are called microsetae, and they do not go through the exoskeleton
- TeacherThey look hollow. How long are the hairs?
Bugscope Teamlooks like about 30 or so micrometers
Bugscope Team30/1000 of a millimeter
Bugscope Teamthey are quite small
- Bugscope Teamyes!
- 9:16 am
- TeacherCan we look at its mouthparts?
Bugscope Teamthe mandibles are closed together
Bugscope Teamthey are long and have little projections on them to help them grasp their prey
- TeacherCan you open them, the students ask?
Bugscope Teamhaha I'm sorry -- they're inside the microscope, in a high vacuum
Bugscope TeamNope, not during the session. The mandibles can be opened before preparing them for the scope if you use forceps though
- Bugscope Teamto the left, above, we see one of the combs the ant uses to help clean its antennae
- TeacherIs that so there are no particles floating around?
Bugscope Teamyes we do not want to have air in the specimen chamber because it will stop the electrons
- Bugscope TeamIf you look in the lower left corner of the image you can see long hair-like structures coming from the mandibles. Those are the trigger hairs, and when the mandibles are locked open stimulate their closure. These ants use their mandibles in a way thats very similar to a bear trap to catch prey
- TeacherWow! So fuzzy
- TeacherThe students wanted to see the comb better.
Bugscope Teamthe comb is on one of the forelimbs, and it is at an 'elbow'; here we see that the forelimb is broken off
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that it really does resemble a comb
- 9:21 am
- Bugscope Teamnow that we see the comb, we also see a loose scale from a moth or butterfly
- TeacherHow did it break off?
Bugscope Teamwhen the ant died it was stuck to another ant, and we had to pull them apart
Bugscope Teamit was an accident; I am sorry
Bugscope Teamadditionally, sometimes parts break off just because the insects are dried out in and when this happens they become brittle
- TeacherHa, ha. We are the joker.
- TeacherThe students want to know who you are.
Bugscope TeamI'm Batman
Bugscope TeamI am an electron microscopist.
Bugscope TeamJK I'm a first year Entomology Masters student studying Trap-jaw ant kinematics and evolution
Bugscope TeamJosh is a confirmed ant dude.
Bugscope TeamI'm an entomologist that studies ticks
Bugscope TeamI look at their CO2 sensing structure which is called the Haller's Organ
- Bugscope Teamhere we see the slashing mouthpart of the fly, above, and crosswise on the screen is one of the fly's limbs
- TeacherWhat are kinematics?
Bugscope Teamit has to do with how they move, in a way -- Josh can explain
Bugscope TeamScott's right. Kinematics is the study of motion. I examine how the mandibles close, focusing primarily on the speed, acceleration, and force generation of the mandible strikes.
Bugscope TeamAnd how all of these measures vary within a population, species or lineage of trap-jaw ants
- TeacherCan we see the mite on the robber fly?
Bugscope Teamyes it is in the image now but so small it is a little dot
- 9:26 am
- Bugscope Teamhere it comes
- Bugscope TeamI want you all to see the super tiny mite on the robber fly
Bugscope TeamWe have a colony of trap-jaws in the lab that are currently infested with what appear to be ectoparasitic mites. I can bring you one sometime Scott if you want to use one for bugscope. I'd really like to see them under the SEM
- Bugscope Team60 millionths of a meter
- TeacherWhat part of the mite are we looking at?
Bugscope Teamit is lying on its back, and we see its forelimbs
- Bugscope Teamhaha one of the limbs just moved
- Bugscope Teamit looks like this mite only has 3 pairs of legs which would mean that it is a larval mite - this is the form mites are in after they hatch
Bugscope TeamOnce the mite molts (sheds it's skin) it will get it's 4th pair of legs
- Bugscope Teamit is the smallest mite we have ever seen in this microscope
- Bugscope Teamtoday, after 16 years of using this 'scope
- TeacherReally cool! We are doing real science! You are welcome!
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that its body is all folded up, ready to swell when it feeds
- 9:31 am
- TeacherI is alive, or is that impossible in the vacuum?
- TeacherIt
- Bugscope Teamit could be holding its breath in the vacuum
- TeacherWhat does it eat?
Bugscope TeamI am not sure -- T or Josh may know.
Bugscope TeamIt varies from mite to mite, some mite can help the insect they're on an eat things like mold/fungus, but others are parasites and will drink the hosts hemolymph (blood)
- TeacherVery cool!
- TeacherCould we zoom in even closer?
- Bugscope Teammostly what we see are setae that help it feel and taste
- TeacherThis looks like spaghetti, but what is it?
Bugscope Teamsetae
- Bugscope TeamHere we can see it's legs
- TeacherI was typing and missed your reply. Thanks!
- 9:37 am
- TeacherIt has some dots. What are those?
Bugscope TeamI think they are bumps in the exoskeleton; they may be tiny bits of dirt
- Bugscope Teamlast week we saw two mites that had fallen off of a mosquito
- TeacherJust dirt. We are familiar that!
- TeacherCould they be animals on the tiny mite?
Bugscope Teamthey are smaller than bacteria. I think it is unlikely.
Bugscope Teamfor comparison, bacteria (the rod-shaped ones) are usually about 2 microns long
Bugscope Teamthe dots we see are on the nanoscale, like 100 nanometers or less in diameter, closer to the size range of viruses.
- TeacherHOw tiny is that?
Bugscope Teamit is about 60 micrometers long.
- TeacherHow far can the microscope zoom in?
Bugscope Teamit can go over 1 million times, but we can take publishable images at no more than about 200,000x
- 9:42 am
- TeacherAre mites related to lice?
Bugscope TeamNot really. They are both arthropods, so they are about as closely related as you and I are to a fish or crocodile in that we are all chordates (Im assuming you are also a human and in fact not a crocodile or fish, which would ruin this analogy). Both lice and some mites independently evolved the parasitic life style
Bugscope TeamMites are more closely related to ticks
- TeacherAre any of you women scientists?
Bugscope TeamMe :)
- TeacherHave you ever looked at interesting viruses?
Bugscope Teamwhen we look at viruses we use the transmission electron microscope, and we have been privileged to look at viruses that infect Archaea, which are tiny organsims that form, together, the Third Kingdom of life.
- TeacherYay! Girl Power!
Bugscope Teamwoo :)
- Bugscope Teamyeah they're on one of the recent Bugscope sessions
Bugscope Teamthe mosquito mites?
Bugscope Teamyes
- TeacherWhat are mosquito mites?
Bugscope TeamScott and T are talking about mites that Scott found on a mosquito during a previous bugscope session. T. is into mites and wanted to know if Scott saved them so she could take a look.
- TeacherWhat do you study?
Bugscope Teamhere we help people do research, of all types; we train them to use the microscopes in the Microscopy Suite here to do their own research.
Bugscope TeamI'm studying the Haller's organ of ticks - this is the organ that helps ticks find hosts
Bugscope TeamTrap-jaw ant kinematics and all that jazz I mentioned earlier
- 9:48 am
- TeacherNeat eye! Which insect is this?
Bugscope TeamThis is a yellowjacket
Bugscope Teamyellowjackets are a type of social wasp
- TeacherCould we zoom in on the eye?
- Bugscope Teambees and wasps are related to ants, so this is not too far from Josh's work
- TeacherCan we see another insect? Which is this?
Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye of the yellowjacket
- TeacherJack says he did not realize that yellowjackets were so fuzzy.
Bugscope Teamthe fuzziness comes from all of the hairs, which we call 'setae'; they help insects sense their environment, and sense their own movement, and also do things like help them regulate their bodt temperature
- Bugscope Teammonster
- 9:53 am
- TeacherIs this a stink bug?
Bugscope Teamit is related to stinkbugs, but it is predatory
Bugscope Teamit hunts other insects, or actually hides and attacks when they do not see it
- Bugscope Teamdragonflies and some hornets, like cicada killers, can have over 30,000 ommatidia per compound eye
- Bugscope Teamsome ants do not bother to have eyes at all
- TeacherHow many hexagons are in the compound eye?
Bugscope Teamit varies from insect to insect. Insects that are hunters - like dragonflies an probably 10s of thousands while insects like ants (sorry Josh) have just a few hundred.
Bugscope Teamadditionally, different sexes have a different number as well, males tend to have more than females because they're look for their mates (unlike females)
Bugscope TeamHey Scott, its not the number of ommatidia you have, but how you use them :P
- Bugscope TeamI think this is an ambush bug, related to wheel bugs
- TeacherThank you for helping us learn about insects and electron microscopes. We looked at slides under a compound microscope. Is is time for you all to go?
Bugscope Teamwe can run a bit longer if it works for you
- TeacherIs that a wheel bug or an assassin bug? Is that its mouth?
Bugscope Teamwheel bugs are a type of assassin bug
Bugscope TeamScott has this labeled as an ambush bug, but I'm 90% sure it is not a true ambush bug (phymatinae)
Bugscope TeamIf it was it would have more distinctive raptorial forelegs
Bugscope TeamI will always defer to the entomologists.
- TeacherCould we zoom in one more time?
Bugscope Teamlet's look at the compound eyes of the moth, is that alright?
- TeacherCan we zoom in on the moth?
Bugscope Teamyes!
- Bugscope TeamThe curled up structure was the moth's mouthparts
- 9:58 am
- TeacherYes, is that a proboscis?
Bugscope Teamlet's go see
- TeacherWow! So cool!
- TeacherThe zoomed in eye looked like hamburgers or marshsmallows, students remark.
Bugscope Teamthe students are obviously hungry!
- Bugscope Teamthe proboscis is coiled up when the moth is not using it
- TeacherLunch is in 10 minutes!
- TeacherWhat is the dot in the middle, a mite?
Bugscope Teamhard to tell what it is
Bugscope TeamIm pretty sure its not a mite though
- Bugscope Teamthe round thing here is a brochosome
- Bugscope TeamI'm going to the microscope to try to focus better
- 10:04 am
- TeacherThank you all. We need to sign off! Hope you have a tasty lunch, too! Don't eat the hexagonal cheeseburgers.
- TeacherWhat is a brochosome?
- Bugscope TeamThank you! I hope you all enjoyed the session!
- Bugscope TeamSee you next year!
- TeacherSee you next year! Thank you!
- Bugscope TeamThis is really cool
- 10:09 am
- Bugscope Team'scope is pumping down
- Bugscope Teamvacuum is getting better
- TeacherThe kids want to know what T's name is.
Bugscope Teammy name is Tanya
- Bugscope TeamAlso Josh - you've only further supported my statement that you know a lot more than me
Bugscope Teamabout certain arcane things
Bugscope Teamwhich can be very helpful in the linnaean games lol
- Bugscope TeamMrs D because we were talking about mites earlier and I told Tanya about the mosquito mites I just put that stub in the microscope. Whatever we find will go on your member page, and you can see it later.
- TeacherSee you next year! What are you doing with the micoscope?
Bugscope TeamScott's going to see if he can show T. the mosquito mites
- Bugscope Teamhttp://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2014-073
- TeacherThank you! So interesting!
- TeacherI will do that later! They zoomed to lunch!
Bugscope TeamSweet :) They're a really funky looking organ, but really neat to see. I also have a fun explanation of how ticks use them in my research tab
- 10:15 am
- TeacherThey wanted to know if a Haller's organ was like a nose.
Bugscope Teamin a way yes - only what they sense are pheromones (or chemicals that tick release) and CO2 - as a few other things as well
- TeacherA mosquito mite?
Bugscope Teamyes!
- TeacherThank you!
Bugscope TeamOf course! Hey if you want to show your students my website - I have ESEM photos of the Tick Haller's organ on it
Bugscope Teamhttps://tanyajosek.wordpress.com/
- TeacherThank you! Going to lunch, too! We will revisit all we have learned!
- Bugscope Teamhere is one of them
Bugscope TeamThat mite has seen better days I am sure
Bugscope Teamso cool!
- Bugscope Teamthis is one of the other ones
- Bugscope Teamk I am going to see if I can find the other ones
Bugscope Teamawesome
Bugscope TeamI wonder if these mites were on the mosquito or just chillin in the mosquito containers
Bugscope Teamthey have scales from the mosquitoes stuck to their setae
- Bugscope TeamI'm signing off guys. I need to shower and get to the lab sometime soon to prep for an undergrad I have coming in to sort bird nests.
Bugscope TeamLater.
Bugscope TeamThank you, Josh!
Bugscope TeamAlrighty - see you later!
- Bugscope Teambird nests = mites for sure
Bugscope Teamdefinitely
- 10:20 am
- Bugscope Teamthat way you can ID the skeeters for sure
Bugscope Teamthe mosquitoes I gave you were definitely Aedes aegypti - I took them from the Med Ent colony
- Bugscope TeamTanya I can save these for you.
Bugscope TeamHow do you save them? Do you save the stub
Bugscope Teamyes I will save the stub, np
Bugscope Teamis that what you meant initially?
- Bugscope Teamthese mosquitoes, though, came from an earlier set you had brought us
Bugscope Teamoh hold on - lets look really quick
- Bugscope Teamto the north
- Bugscope Teamoh geez
Bugscope Teamdo you recognize this?
- 10:26 am
- Bugscope TeamI can take us to the other mosquito
- Bugscope Teamthat proboscis
Bugscope Teamsometimes when they are critical point dried the fascicle comes out and also blows apart due to a kind of tension it must be under
Bugscope Teamthat's pretty cool
- Bugscope Teamno apparent mites here
- Bugscope Teambut there is a 3rd mosquito
- Bugscope Teamdid all of the mosquitos come from the same vial?
Bugscope Teamyes
- Bugscope Teamok nothing to see, looks like
- Bugscope TeamT I'll shut down and save this stub for you if you are interested
- 10:31 am
- Bugscope Teamit's really hard to id mosquitos -_-
Bugscope TeamI think they were Ae aegypti
- Bugscope TeamAedes is really easy to id if if you have color - they're black and white
Bugscope Teamhaha I think the thing to do is make a stub with ones we haven't seen yet.
- Bugscope TeamCulex is brown
- Bugscope Teamthere are other features you use to ID mosquitoes, but these features get skewed in the vacuum - ie abdomen shape
- Bugscope Teamthey look like zebras lol
Bugscope Teamyeah I remember seeing that but cannot say for sure it was these ones; after a few sessions I get confused about what we put on a certain stub.
Bugscope Teamunderstandable
Bugscope Teamalright time for me to go -- good to get to talk with you. and as always I really appreciate your help
Bugscope TeamYes - it was a fun session! thank you for putting the mites back on here :) I took some photos
Bugscope Teamawesome -- over and out!
- Bugscope TeamHave a great day Scott!
Bugscope Teamyou too!
Bugscope Teamthanks :)