Connected on 2011-09-29 10:00:00 from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States
- 8:57am
- Bugscope Team good morning!
- 9:02am
- Bugscope Team microscope is pumping down
- Bugscope Team almost ready to bring up the beam
- 9:08am
- Bugscope Team now we are making presets
- 9:14am
- 9:20am
- 9:26am
- Teacher Okay, I'm here. My kids are at PE
- Bugscope Team Cool.
- Bugscope Team This will be a good sample, Mrs Morgan
- Teacher How cool is that earwig!
- Bugscope Team I just got your email message.
- Bugscope Team I have a few more presets to make, but please feel free to drive for a while if you would like
- Teacher Can we get any of these images to use on our district website for PR?
- Bugscope Team these will all be saved on your member page
- Bugscope Team http://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2011-064
- Bugscope Team along with the chat
- 9:32am
- Bugscope Team but I can also take a few high-res images and give you a link to them
- Bugscope Team this is a rare occasion in which we have actually found a beetle grasping something in its claws, and it's a aphid
- Bugscope Team pretty nice
- Bugscope Team Japanese beetles often seem to be making intricate gang signs with their claws
- 9:38am
- Bugscope Team this is awesome, also -- the brochosomes on the leafhopper's exoskeleton
- 9:44am
- Teacher What are we looking at here?
- Bugscope Team this is a mold spore on the face of a silverfish
- Bugscope Team there's the face
- Bugscope Team silverfish are kind of nerdy looking
- 9:50am
- Teacher I was thinking that they look really monster-like
- Bugscope Team I'm sure it would be happier to hear that.
- Teacher What are the scales?
Bugscope Team the scales are what it shares with mosquitoes, butterflies, moths, and very few other insects. They help all of those insects escape from webs.
- Bugscope Team scales are modified setae -- the tiny hairs. they also have a thermoregulating function, we think, and they provide color to butterflies, of course
- Teacher I've got to go get the kids. They are going to love this.
- Bugscope Team these are the iridescent blue scales of a butterfly
- Bugscope Team sweet
- 9:55am
- Bugscope Team this is the head of a flying aphid. about a year ago we had them all over campus
- 10:02am
- 10:11am
- Teacher What is the segmented piece that is going off the slide to the left?
- Bugscope Team that is the one remaining antenna
- Bugscope Team somehow we lost the other one!
- Bugscope Team you can see the compound eye below the base of the antenna
- Teacher Oh, no! There is an antenna on the loose!
- Teacher What is this?
- Bugscope Team now we are looking at the antenna, up close
- Bugscope Team tiny hairs called microsetae
- Bugscope Team please feel free to drive and also to click on any of the presets to get the microscope to drive you to one of those places
- Bugscope Team this is the earwig's compound eye
- Bugscope Team the individual facets of the eye are called ommatidia
- Teacher We'd like to see the beetle claw with the aphid
- Bugscope Team this, now, is one of the six claws of the Japanese beetle
- Bugscope Team it has grabbed an aphid
- Bugscope Team the head of the aphid is sort of triangular
- 10:17am
- Teacher What is the hole in the aphid?
Bugscope Team that is where one of its limbs broke off
- Teacher Alison wants to know what are the big spikey parts on the claw?
Bugscope Team the spikes that stick out of the claw are setae that help the beetle sense when it is touching something
- Bugscope Team insects have an exoskeleton, like a shell, or like if you were wearing a coat of armor
- Bugscope Team if you had a coat of armor, it would be hard to tell if something was touching you
- Teacher So the setae are like our fingers when they are touching something?
Bugscope Team yes! the setae on the claw were also much like cat or rat whiskers
- Guest hello
Bugscope Team Hello MYP!
- Bugscope Team now you are looking at the compound eye of a fly
- Guest Is the bumpy thing the eye?
Bugscope Team yes it is!
- Guest That looks cool!
- Bugscope Team you can see that the fly has sensory (mechanosensory) setae around its eye, just like the beetle had on its claw
- 10:22am
- Teacher How many mini eyes are there?
Bugscope Team there can be several thousand, easily
- Bugscope Team many flying insects also have three simple eyes on the top of the head, arranged in a triangle, called ocelli
- Bugscope Team the ocelli are more like light sensors than eyes, and they help wasps and bees and flies keep their orientation with respect to the sun, for example
- Guest hi
- Teacher What are the dents in the eye? Is that normal?
Bugscope Team when the fly was alive, its eye would not have been dented like that; it is now a bit dry and shrunken
- Guest hi
- Guest hi
Bugscope Team Hi Martin!
- Guest hola!
- Bugscope Team if you had compound eyes like this, you would have very good peripheral vision; other insects and animals would have difficulty sneaking up on you
- Teacher Mark was hoping we could zoom in and see some of the mini eyes close up.
Bugscope Team you can do that if you wish, Mrs Morgan; or I can drive for you
- Guest what is that
Bugscope Team that is a fly's eye, Martin
- Guest what are those?
- Guest whos controlling
Bugscope Team Mrs Morgan is controlling. This is her class's Bugscope session today.
- 10:27am
- Bugscope Team an ant!
- Guest o bye srry to bother
Bugscope Team Hey no problem. Please feel free to watch!
- Teacher Saige wants to know about the circle in the middle made of bumps
Bugscope Team that is the ant's compound eye
- Guest t
- Bugscope Team almost all ants we see are female
- Bugscope Team once in a while you see an ant with wings, and unless that is a flying queen ant, it is a male
- Bugscope Team let's look at the compound eye
- Bugscope Team even it has a few tiny setae sticking out of it
- Teacher Saige wants to know about something near the mouth.
Bugscope Team ok!
- Bugscope Team this is the ball and socket joint at the base of the antenna
- Bugscope Team Saige there is something caught in the mouth
- Teacher Saige wants to know if there is something sticking out of the mouth
- Bugscope Team the thing we see on the bottom is one of the mandibles -- one of the jaws -- which open left and right rather than up and down like ours
- 10:33am
- Bugscope Team mandibles on an insect open like little gates, from side to side
- Teacher Colin wants to know what is in the background?
- Bugscope Team the background is carbon tape, sticky on both sides, and also silver paint, to help the insects stick better and make a conductive pathway for the electrons to get away
- Bugscope Team this is the spur on the ant's foreleg that has a built-on comb on it.
- Bugscope Team so this is how the ant cleans its antennae
- Teacher Daulton wants to know what is your favorite insect to view?
Bugscope Team I like earwigs, leafhoppers, and weevils
- Bugscope Team this is another comb
- Bugscope Team leafhoppers have pointy head
- Bugscope Team heads...
- Bugscope Team this one is quite dirty, though
- 10:38am
- Teacher Where is the eye?
Bugscope Team the eyes are on the side of the head
- Teacher Looks like another compound eye.
Bugscope Team yes it is!
- Bugscope Team it is terribly dirty
- Teacher Do bugs have eyelashes to keep out the dirt?
Bugscope Team no -- they have to brush stuff off of their eyes using their legs/arms
- Bugscope Team it's a rock!
- Bugscope Team and tiny crystals
- Teacher We're interested in the wings of the butterfly
Bugscope Team butterfly wings are covered with scales, which makes them feel silky smooth to us
- Teacher Colin says that looks like a sea urchin
Bugscope Team yes it does!
- Bugscope Team scales do lots of things for butterflies, moths, mosquitoes, and silverfish, all of which have them
- Teacher Regan says when he holds butterflies in his hand, he gets dusty stuff on them. Is this the scales?
Bugscope Team Exactly! That is what the dust is.
- 10:44am
- Bugscope Team if a butterfly flies into a spiderweb, the scales will stick to it, and the butterfly has a chance to slip out, leaving scales stuck to the web
- Teacher What do the scales do?
Bugscope Team they also help the insect keep its body temperature constant
- Bugscope Team also, of course, scales are often brightly colored -- so butterflies and moths can recognize each other
- Teacher If the big pieces are the scales, what are the little boxes in each scale?
Bugscope Team To be as light as possible (so they can still fly!) they have that pattern of holes to reduce weight while remaining strong.
- Bugscope Team brightly colored scales on a Monarch butterfly are also a warning to birds, for example, that Monarchs taste bad.
- Teacher So the holes are like netting?
- Bugscope Team the dimensions of the the little boxes reflect light of different colors
- Bugscope Team depending on those dimensions and the angle from which they are viewed...
- Teacher Brady wanted to see this Japenese beetle.
Bugscope Team pretty cool!
- Bugscope Team this is the underside of the head
- Bugscope Team the things that look kind of like maracas, or submarine sandwiches -- or pistachios -- are the antennal lobes
- Teacher What are the pistachios at the ends of the segmented parts?
Bugscope Team Those are antennae
- 10:49am
- Bugscope Team those lobes are lamellated, and they can fan out
- Bugscope Team the little dots we see inside are not holes in cheese, if this was a submarine sandwich -- they are chemosensors that help the beetle taste the air and what is near it
- Teacher We've got to go. The kids are interested but restless.
Bugscope Team Thank You!
- Bugscope Team It was fun to connect with you today!
- Teacher We LOVED this. Can you send us the digital pictures?
Bugscope Team http://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2011-064
- Bugscope Team I will take a few more images as well and send you a link.
- Bugscope Team Thank You, Mrs Morgan!
- Guest That was interesting
Bugscope Team myp I gave you control if you would like to go to a few more presets and or drive
- Bugscope Team you can collect more images for Mrs Morgan's class
- Bugscope Team for example they did not get to see the mites
- 10:54am
- Bugscope Team you can see that one click is enough to activate the preset
- Guest ok
- Bugscope Team but just have fun cruising around
- Guest thanks!
- Bugscope Team all of the images -- like this! -- will go on the class's member page
- Bugscope Team this is totally cool
- Bugscope Team a mite on the shoulder of the earwig
- Bugscope Team you can see a mite behind it as well
- Guest what are the pointy things on the mite?
Bugscope Team its arms and legs, with tiny setae that help it feel what it is touching
- Guest cool
- Bugscope Team its head is very small, and you cannot really see it now
- Bugscope Team sometimes the forelegs have a flattened spoonlike portion that may help it absorb food
- Guest Where is the head?
Bugscope Team it's right in the middle but obscured by those big central legs
- Guest WOW!
- Guest Those legs are big
- 10:59am
- Bugscope Team the head looks kind of like a Chiclet with tiny antenna sprouting from it
- Bugscope Team it is indeed in the center here but kind of nondescript
- Guest I see the head I think.
Bugscope Team that
Bugscope Team that is it, there
- Bugscope Team this kind of mite does not have eyes
- Bugscope Team you are doing a good job driving
- Guest Thanks
- Guest wow
- Guest thats cool
- Bugscope Team it also has to be on a part of the earwig in which it won't be brushed off or crushed
- Guest how many species of mites are there?
Bugscope Team I'm sure there are thousands, and it is likely many have not been named
- Guest this is cool
- Guest what is that
Bugscope Team Yoyo this is the head of a mite, barely visible between its forlegs
- 11:04am
- Guest cool
- Bugscope Team the bar to the lower left reads 5 microns, which is about 2.5 bacteria long
- Guest wow
- Guest approximately how many species have no eyes?
Bugscope Team MYP I am sorry I don't know much about them, really.
- Guest it's ok
- Guest about how long are the antenaes?
Bugscope Team looks like about 20 to 30 microns, or micrometers
- Guest ant enaes
- Bugscope Team the antenna is right in the middle here, and behind the other stuff
- Guest I think it's the right leg
- Guest what are the bumps on its legs
Bugscope Team that is an oily liquid
- 11:09am
- Guest what is that sort of glob on the right leg?
Bugscope Team just some juju -- some fluid we don't recognize
Bugscope Team it may be some kind of cellulosic material, like from a plant or the surface of a mold spore\
- Bugscope Team be sure and try some of the other presets\
- Guest are mold spores common?
Bugscope Team yes, and especially once the samples get old
- Bugscope Team here we see some pretty plump bacteria on the sponging mouthparts of a fly\
- Bugscope Team also, the thing to the right, top is a mold spore, looks like
- Guest what one is the bacteria, the flaky ones, ore the big ones?
Bugscope Team the one in the NW corner that looks like a capsule
- Guest The one that I just centered?
Bugscope Team just to the lower left of it is a bacterium
- Bugscope Team bacteria come in different shapes, of course
- Guest That one?
Bugscope Team yes it is some kind of bacillus
- Guest That looks cool!
- Bugscope Team when we use the microscope for Bugscope, like today, we keep the sample far away from the polepiece, where the electrons come from
- 11:14am
- Bugscope Team if the sample was closer, we would see better resolution\
- Guest how much batceria have you seen in bugscope in your work in bugscope?
Bugscope Team fewer than you might expect. we do see them often on ticks.
- Bugscope Team I found out recently, talking with a tick expert, that ticks occasionally burst when they become engorged with blood, but they can heal themselves -- they can form new cuticle to scar over the broken areas
- Guest cool!
- Bugscope Team what I think that shows us is how dangerous ticks can be, and how immune they are to the bacteria they host
- Guest Not cool.
- Guest are the black dots the aphids?
Bugscope Team not here
- Bugscope Team oh I see -- the software is stuck on this ant
- Guest Are there any aphids on this fly?
Bugscope Team oops I mean fly
- Bugscope Team MYP I can drive to the fly. Just a sec.
- Guest sure
- 11:19am
- Bugscope Team There it is.
- Guest what was the previous thing?
Bugscope Team where we were was another fly
- Bugscope Team aphids are not always satisfying to look at because they shrivel up when they die
- Guest with nothing on it?
Bugscope Team that was the fly with bacteria on its mouth
- Guest oh.
- Bugscope Team this is one of the lobes of the antennae of the Japanese beetle, up close
- Bugscope Team the little dot-like areas are what I believe are chemoreceptors
- Guest what are the bumps on the beetle?
Bugscope Team some of the bumps are just the shape of the cuticle
- Guest Wow
- Bugscope Team this is an unstable area -- the beam is making it move a bit
- 11:25am
- Guest what are the things inside a few of the bumps?
Bugscope Team I am not sure. I think some of that is a waxy protein that has flaked off of the surface of the cuticle
- Guest Is the thing poking inside the picture an antennae?
- Bugscope Team sometimes these are called 'sensilla'
- Guest Does it have anything to do with their senses?
- Bugscope Team I believe they are chemoreceptors that pick up various odors and scents in the air
- Bugscope Team I think, also, with insects, that there are different chemosensors for differents ranges of scents
- Guest so those are like our noses?
Bugscope Team yes -- they use them to smell but of course in this case not to breathe
- Guest so how do they breath?
Bugscope Team they breathe through spiracles, which there are usually two of per segment, and toward the sides of the body
- Guest cool!
- 11:30am
- Guest What is that?
Bugscope Team that is a haltere
- Guest what does the haltere do?
- Bugscope Team usually there is a spiracle adjacent to a haltere, but we cannot see it here
- Bugscope Team the haltere is a modified hindwing that is found in flies (Diptera -- 'two winged')
- Bugscope Team so we see the two large wings in flies, and the halteres are smaller but kind of heavy, and they beat opposite the motion of the wings
- Guest (smell wise)
- Guest why do they stink?
Bugscope Team why do flies stink?
- Guest may i have control
Bugscope Team got it, Yoyo.
- Guest what is that thing?
Bugscope Team that is the shaft of the haltere, and it has what one lecturer calls 'hypertrophied mechanoreceptors' on it that sense the movement of the halteres
- Bugscope Team Yoyo I am sorry that some of the presets are not working...
- Bugscope Team You like the mites, don't you?
- 11:35am
- Guest yep
- Bugscope Team MYP, Robin, and Yoyo I am going to have to shut things down. We share this microscope with other researchers, who sign up for time to use it.Researchers
- Bugscope Team those mites have crystals on their carapaces...
- Bugscope Team Anyway -- see you 'guys' another time?
- Guest sure bye! Thankyou again!
Bugscope Team Thank You!
- Bugscope Team Bye you all.
- Guest bye
