Connected on 2021-04-08 13:00:00
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- 12:32 pm
- Bugscope Teamtenent setae
- Bugscope Teamreally nice looking ant
- Bugscope Teamhemiptera
- 12:37 pm
- Bugscope TeamHi Alan!
- Bugscope TeamWe're setting up.
- Bugscope TeamThe little star next to your name on the righthand panel shows that you have control. Although it's not yet time to use it.
- 12:43 pm
- 12:51 pm
- Guestok, thanks. do you have any bees?
- Bugscope Teamno but we do have a wasp in there
- GuestHi Alan. We're here, I think. --Aaron & Co.
- Bugscope TeamHello Bowen Bugs, and pleasant bugs!
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of the wasp
- GuestHello, pleasant bugs are here.
- GuestAlan, can you see our message?
- Bugscope TeamAll of the samples are mounted on a 1.75 in stub, coated with gold palladium, and presently in the vacuum chamber of the scanning electron microscope.
- GuestHello everyone. That is a cool looking wasp.
- Bugscope Teamhi Kevin! Welcome to Bugscope!
- Bugscope TeamHi all!
- 12:56 pm
- Bugscope Teamsometimes there is a disconnect between lines of chat where some chat is missing for people. refreshing the browser page will help in that case
- Bugscope TeamPlease let us know whenever you have questions.
- Bugscope TeamAlan can drive the microscope if he wants to.
- GuestGram here, too!
- Bugscope Teamwe can confer control to someone if you want. just let us know
- GuestGRAM HERE, TOO!
- Guestdo you have a praying mantis
- Bugscope Teamno we couldnt
- Bugscope Teamget one in time
- Bugscope Teamsorry about that
- 1:02 pm
- GuestHi Gram! Scot, is this a carpenter ant or a sidewalk ant?
Bugscope Teampresently we're looking at a rolypoly. the ant I am not sure about; it may have been a trapjaw ant, as it apparently had trigger hairs between its mandibles
- Bugscope Teamnow back on the rolypoly -- pillbug, woodlouse
- Bugscope TeamI think it has seven pairs of legsw.
- Bugscope Teamoops
- Bugscope Teamthey're also called isopods because all of their little feet look the same
- Teacherhow a bout a spider
- Bugscope TeamAll the specimens are on the screen to the left.
- Bugscope TeamAlan you should be able to click on any of the presets on the lefthand panel and get the microscope to drive to that position
- Bugscope Teammost insects have hairs, though pillbugs arent actually an insect--it's a crustacean like a lobster
- Bugscope Teamyou should also be able to change the mag, focus, and/or change the brightness/ contrast if necessary
- Bugscope Teaminsects have hairs, or setae, to help them sense what is going on around it in its environment
- Bugscope TeamHi Judy!
- 1:07 pm
- GuestHi Scot and everybody!
- Teacherwhy do they call it an electron microscope
Bugscope Teamwe are using an electron beam, in a vacuum, that scans across the sample and produces what are called secondary electrons from the gold-palladium coat we have put on the samples
Bugscope Teamso we are looking at secondary electron images inside the scanning electron microscope
- Bugscope Teamall of the samples are in a vacuum chamber
- Bugscope Teama scanning electron microscope like this one operates like old TVs, with a cathode ray tube
- Bugscope Teamin this case the cathode is at the top of the instrument, pointing down at the samples
- Bugscope Teamwe're looking at fly ommatidia right now -- the eye facets of the fly
- Bugscope Teamyou can see little spikes among the ommatidia
- Bugscope Teamthe spikes are called setae
- Bugscope Teami dont know of any that like to play. I know fish can sometimes be playful
- 1:12 pm
- Teacherdo any baby bugs play like kittens or puppies or bear cubs
Bugscope Teambaby ladybugs are scary-looking, and they eat other insects, like ladybugs do
- Bugscope Teamsetae at sensory
Bugscope Teamsetae "are" sensory
- GuestCan you show the wasp's stinger?
- Bugscope Teamhere is the wasp stinger poking through the setae forest
- GuestWow! And ouch!
- Bugscope Teamthere it is
- Bugscope Teamlot of juju on the setae
- Guesthow do you pronounce setae?
- GuestWhat kind of things have scientists learned about bugs using electron microscope that wasn't known just by using light microscope?
- Bugscope Teamthe electron microscope is really helpful in getting surface details. Entomologists (bug scientists) have used the microscope to tell apart or describe different species
- Teacherdo individual bugs have anything that could be called a personality different than other bugs of the same species
Bugscope TeamI don't think so; there would not be much of a deviation in behavior in the same species
- Bugscope TeamWith a transmission electron microscope we can image smaller things that have been prepared in a different more complicated manner
- 1:17 pm
- Bugscope Teamyou can see fibers of some type around the fly's body
- Bugscope Teamthere are two palps above the 'tongue'
- Bugscope Teamthe small, branch-like antennae are missing, but we can see the bases of the antennae here
- Teacherdoes it bother you that people use the word bug to describe all insects and even spiders
- Bugscope Teamit doesn't bother me. It's fun to talk about the difference between bug and insect and spider and crustacean (which are basically sea bugs haha)
- 1:23 pm
- GuestWhat are those things in the background? Are they part of the ladybug?
Bugscope Teambelow/behind the lady we see little craters in the doublestick carbon tape the insects/arthropods are stuck to.
- Bugscope Teamthe ladybug has a pair of palps that look like little vacuum cleaner nozzles
- Bugscope TeamThat depends. If it's a mosquito, I happily swat that
- Teacherif a bug lands on you, do you shutter and slap it off like the rest of us
Bugscope TeamI try to keep it!
Bugscope Teamwe are generally predators in that situation
- Bugscope Teamwe'll chase mosquitos, for example
- Bugscope Teamsee how the ladybug has a kind of furry part of its forearms?
- GuestYes
- Bugscope Teamladybugs are helpful in killing aphids and don't bite. The Asian variety do bite
- Guestare the hairy arms sensory organs?
- Bugscope Teamtrue friendly ladybugs are bright red. Asian ladybugs are more yellow
- GuestAre the hairy arms to collect pollen?
- 1:28 pm
- TeacherI saw some research that suggested a butterfly remembers being a caterpill
- Teacherdo you agree
- Bugscope TeamThe hairy arms are more for feeling or sensing what is going on around it. Insects have exoskeletons, which is like if you were wearing a suit of armor, so they need those setae poking through to feel when it bumps into things
- GuestCan they discern things visually or do the eyes simply show light and dark? They spend so much time in limited light environment.
Bugscope Teamsome insects have three eyes on the top of their heads that are called ocelli, which do little more than sensing light, but it gives them a way to determine directions with respect to the sun
Bugscope TeamThe compound eyes on insects can see things. It looks a little disjointed like looking through a kaleidoscope. Some insects will also have simple eyes, spiders too. Those are more for telling if it's light or dark
- Bugscope Teammany insects can see things that we cannot -- things that are in the ultraviolet spectrum
- GuestAre you saying some insects have both compound and simple eyes?
- Bugscope Teamin order for us to get an idea of the UV spectrum, we have blacklights
- Bugscope TeamSome insects will have both types, those are usually the flying ones
- Bugscope Teamboth types of eyes that is
- GuestCool
- 1:34 pm
- GuestCan you show us the beetle?
- Guest(Asher said that.)
- Teacherif the bug were alive, would the electron beam harm it
- Bugscope Teamthis is a beetle -- a June bug
- Bugscope Teamthe insects definitely would not enjoy the electron beam hitting it. It could possibly survive it though
- Bugscope TeamThe big thing is they have to sit in a vacuum. Live bugs tend to be juicier than dead ones
- Bugscope Teamthere are a lot of loose wing scales from another insect on the June bug's face
- GuestIs that a "Probiscus"? to the right? and what is the rope to the left, antennae?
Bugscope Teamyes that was the proboscis of the ant, to the right, and the antennae were to the left
- 1:39 pm
- Bugscope TeamMost hairs help the insect with sense of touch. Some will help with sensing differences in temperature or if another insect released chemical scents
- Guesthow did the other wing scales get there? Did it eat something?
- Teacherdo the hairs serve any purpose
Bugscope Teamthey are very important because they help insects sense their environment
- Guestis there a "focus" on electron microscope?
- Bugscope TeamWhen entomologists set out traps to catch them, they often catch other types with it. Some may have scales. That's how they often get scales all over them
- Bugscope Teaminsects have exoskeletons, which are kind of like little coats of armor. the setae stick through that coat of armor and provide information about the environment: moisture, taste, small, the direction the wind is blowing...
- Bugscope Teamthe way we focus the image is by imaging with the electron beam at different heights
- Teacherdo insects groom themselves? It looks like flies wash their face sometimes.
Bugscope Teamyes they do, for sure. one of the presets shows an ant's comb -- what it uses to clean its antennae
Bugscope Teama comb is on each of the forelegs, a few tarsi down from the claws
- Bugscope TeamWe do it by turning a knob--it's not too different from using a light microscope to focus. Just the mechanism is different
- Guestso focus is kind of trial and error?
- Teacherso are they thinking, "I am a bit dirty and need a wash."
- 1:44 pm
- GuestI assume smell is important, is hearing highly developed?
- Bugscope Teamwith a scanning electron microscope we can focus up close and then take the magnification down again; that is, the SEM is parfocal, kind of nice that way
Bugscope TeamI meant to say that when we take the mag down, the focus is still as good as it was at high mag
- Bugscope Teaminsect hairs can sometimes serve the purpose of sensing vibration. Not all have developed hearing. But yes smell (but with hairs not a nose) is important
- Bugscope Teamthe scales we see, from insect wings, can produce structural colors that all other insects to identify them; the structural colors may be in the UV, so we do not see the same colors
- Bugscope Teamanother thing about insect scales is that they can protect the insect that bears them from spiders
- Guestcan they smell scents, or do they just sense things and it is called smell?
Bugscope Teamthey have chemoreceptors, so yes they can smell\
- Teacherif an ant were the size of a bear or a lion, would it be king of the beasts
- GuestWould smelling by specialized hairs really be more like taste (which for people is linked to smell)?
- Guestso when I go to catch a fly, does it see my hand coming or feel the wind vibration of the hand in motion? Whichever it is I usually can't catch it.
- Bugscope Teamif a butterfly or moth or even a mosquito flies into a spider web it may be able to escape by wriggling out and leaving its scales stuck to the web
- Bugscope Teamit does both. Its eyes sees movement super fast and it has hairs on its eyes that help sense air movement
- 1:49 pm
- Bugscope TeamThis is the june bug antenna
- Bugscope Teamthe round things are sensory pits for reading chemicals in the air
- Guestwhat is that?
- Bugscope Teamthe larger setae on an insect's arms may have a haptic capability -- when the insect moves its arm one way or another it bumps one of the nearby setae that then let the insect understand that its arm has moved to a different position
- GuestDoes the number of hairs decline as the bug ages or do they regenerate?
Bugscope TeamThey do not regenerate setae once they become adults.
- 1:55 pm
- Bugscope Teamalan if an ant were the size of a bear or lion, that would be something i would stay away from because they already can lift things 20 times their bodyweight
- Bugscope Teamon the antenna lobe we're looking at we see both sensory setae and little pits that are likely chemoreceptors
- GuestWow - are those tiny pores or just a different texture?
Bugscope Teamthe round things are sensory pits for reading chemicals in the air
- Guestdoes that mean that the insect doesn't know it has moved until after it moved?
- Teacherthanks for spending time with us
Bugscope TeamThank you, Alan!
- GuestThat was great, thanks!
- Bugscope TeamThank you, Everyone!
- Bugscope Teamthanks for hanging out with us
- GuestThat was fun!
