Session 2007-086 with Crest Middle School

Application

The School

The Class

The Project

Miscellaneous

Live Session Transcript

Connected on 2008-01-30 07:30:00 from Shelby, NC, US

• 8:49am
• Bugscope Team oop they are gone...
• Bugscope Team John it looks like our class dropped off.
• Guest doh
• Bugscope Team well, she grey'd out. that could just mean her PC went into sleep mode. but i'll call in a few minutes if she's not back
• Bugscope Team They should be back at noon if oyu have a chance to log in for that.
• Guest alrighty
• Bugscope Team I have a seminar to go to -- with some students I have worked with down here.
• Bugscope Team But Cate and Alex will be here, plus perhaps Claudi.
• Teacher we're back
• Bugscope Team Hi Mrs O!
• Bugscope Team welcome back, we are ready whenever you are
• Bugscope Team This is the underside of the mouth of a whirligig beetle.
• Bugscope Team a kind of water beetle

• Bugscope Team so, this is the compound eye of a ladybug

• Bugscope Team the eye in made up of thousands of facets, or ommatidia

• 8:54am

• Bugscope Team T
• Bugscope Team T
• Teacher what are the protrustions on either side?
• Bugscope Team eyes

• Bugscope Team ah so this is an owl fly larva, the larva are very different from the grown owl flys
• Bugscope Team the little things with balls on them are the eyes
• Bugscope Team and the large things we see at the top of the image are the jaws
• Bugscope Team mrs. o, can you center on the protrusions so we know what you are asking about?
• Teacher I think it was the eyes - they asked how does it eat if the jaws are sticking out so far?
  Bugscope Team like most neuropterans, as larvae they are voracious predators. They use the jaws to capture their prey.
• Bugscope Team cool
• Bugscope Team notice all the hairs. hairs are called setae, and insects have tons of setae. setae are there to help the insect sense it's environment
• Guest the larvae wait for prey on trees or leaflitter
• Bugscope Team They can also bite humans...it doesn't hurt really really bad, but it stings

• Teacher where can they be found?
  Bugscope Team They can be found in leaf litter and probably some live in trees
• Bugscope Team I guess it depends on the size of the larva
• Teacher my students said hey, and that there are blondes in the class to be more specific...
• Bugscope Team aren't they from the south, like Mississippi?
  Bugscope Team Yup, we don't have any in central Illinois
• 9:00am
• Teacher thanks!

• Bugscope Team We see lots of them in Mexico and in Costa Rica

• Bugscope Team Ok everyone, I have to go to lab meeting! See you all in a bit!

• Bugscope Team now we're looking at the spinnerets, on the spider abdomen.

• Bugscope Team ThanksAnnie!
• Guest bye Annie
• Bugscope Team you can see that the spider has a soft body, and its abdomen is dried and shrunken.
• Teacher how far can they shoot silk?
• Bugscope Team ooh that is a good question...
• Bugscope Team we don't know but are checking...
• Bugscope Team anni or john, do you know about the spider silk shooting?

• Bugscope Team oh, annie left, john...?

• Guest im not sure about how far they can shoot webbing

• Bugscope Team but spider silk is 5 times as stong as steel
• Bugscope Team cate just looked that up

• Bugscope Team this is a very small beetle -- so small that when we mounted it we didn't realize its head was going to be down

• 9:05am

• Bugscope Team this is the face of an ant

• Bugscope Team the mouth always looks like there is another insect inside.
• Bugscope Team ants have very busy looking mouths
• Bugscope Team but it is an assortment of mouthparts
• Bugscope Team you can see the jaw, with the hinge on it
• Teacher my computer is stuck on the image of the beetle. I'm going to close explorer and I won't have another class until 12:15, so I will log back on then. My 2nd block really enjoy the bugs! Thanks so much for answering the questions!
• 9:10am
• Bugscope Team you could try to refresh the browser
• Bugscope Team Thanks Mrs O. We are still looking for the answer to the spider silk distance question...
• Bugscope Team ok, we'll see you at 12:15 then!
• Guest I tried to find the answer in my spider book but I can't find anything on shooting silk
• Guest I do know that bola spiders throw their silk to capture prey
• Bugscope Team john thanks for joining today, you going to be here for the 2nd half
• Guest i actually have class at noon so i will miss the second part
• 9:15am
• Bugscope Team ok, thanks for heliong john, it's appreciated
• Bugscope Team closing session, we'll be back at 11AM
• Guest np. ill try to join more sessions
• Guest thanks!