Connected on 2012-10-10 10:30:00 from Champaign, Illinois, United States
- 8:39am
- Bugscope Team starting pumpdown early in case some samples are extra juicy
- Bugscope Team right now, at 8:45, you can see a CCD camera view of the inside of the vacuum chamber
- Bugscope Team the samples are going to take longer to pump down this morning
- 8:57am
- Bugscope Team now we are close (8:57)
- 9:08am
- Teacher Hey Scott, we're here! This is Joe
- Teacher Just testring, the students don't come for quite some time...
- Bugscope Team hey DaddyO!
- Bugscope Team The 'scope is just now ready for me to turn on the electron beam
- Teacher Cool, looking forward to seeing some images!
- Teacher Scott, is there a "full screen" mode for the image?
- Bugscope Team no there is not
- Bugscope Team we have a lot of modifications we would like to make but it'll be awhile
- 9:15am
- Teacher no problem, we are setting up here ourselves...
- 9:21am
- Student We are practicing asking questions.
Bugscope Team cool!
- Bugscope Team That is how to do it!
- Student Good, it seems to be working!
Bugscope Team yes it is!
- Student We are testing again with a different login.
Bugscope Team haha this one works too!
- Bugscope Team you can see that in the meantime we are looking at the sample and finding cool places to make into presets for your session
- 9:26am
- Student Testing with another login...
Bugscope Team yay!
- Teacher The presets are on the left, correct?
Bugscope Team yes they are!
- Bugscope Team so you should be able to watch them, if you want, as they come in
- Teacher Cool scale on the eye - I assume?
Bugscope Team yes a few scales on the fly's compound eye
- 9:31am
- Bugscope Team this is much like a mosquito stylet -- the part that cuts into your skin
- Teacher Ouch!
- Bugscope Team and this is one of the two milkweed bugs' claws
- Bugscope Team and its head
- Teacher Two of the presets don't show pictures on our end, should we "refresh"?
Bugscope Team yes
- 9:36am
- Bugscope Team it takes a while for some of the images to show up here, even
- Teacher Great, that fixed it!
- Teacher Wow, what is that?!
Bugscope Team mosquito
- 9:42am
- Teacher Is thta holding something???
Bugscope Team yes it is holding a small fly
- 9:48am
- 9:54am
- Bugscope Team this is cool -- it's a male moth
- Bugscope Team we can see the moth's compound eyes, its coiled tongue, and the bases of its antennae
- Student Are you ready for us to try using it here, just to make sure it works well?
Bugscope Team we are ready!
- Bugscope Team presently the BTWASHINGTON teacher has control
- 9:59am
- Bugscope Team so please let me know who you would like us to give control to
- Bugscope Team we are ready to roll anytime now
- Teacher bt teacher
Bugscope Team you have control of the microscope\
- Bugscope Team this is one of the compound eyes of the moth
- Bugscope Team moths have lots and lots of scales, all over their bodies, and it makes them very hard to ground
- Bugscope Team scales do lots of things for moths, and for other insects that have them
- Bugscope Team see how there are scales everywhere?
- 10:04am
- Teacher It seems like it is workinmg well. This students come here in about 25 inutes...
- Bugscope Team if you had scales all over yourr body and accidentally flew into a spiderweb, the scales would stick to the web and you could slip out safely
- Bugscope Team great!
- Bugscope Team SEM is sitting at the microscope, Scot is at the computer next to the microscope, and sj is Scott's office computer
- 10:11am
- 10:20am
- Bugscope Team I will be back in 7 minutes...
- Bugscope Team k back
- 10:25am
- Bugscope Team please let us know whenever you have questions
- Bugscope Team this is a large bristle, or seta, among a bunch of microsetae
- Bugscope Team the larger setae that extend through the cuticle are sensory
- Teacher I'm jjst looking around, waiting for ther kids...
Bugscope Team no problem!
- Bugscope Team the assassin bugs you brought are leaf mimics
- Student What are those spikes?
Bugscope Team the smaller spikes are setae that help the insect sense its environment
- Student Great! That was a practice question.
- Student What's this?
- Bugscope Team this is the part of the claw that helps the assassin bug hold onto surfaces
- 10:30am
- Student What are the donut looking things?
Bugscope Team those are called pedicels, and they are the bases of the antennae
- Bugscope Team the antenna is broken off on this side
- Student Are the "graps" the eye facets?
Bugscope Team yes they are
- Bugscope Team they are individual ommatidia
- Bugscope Team you can see that there are a few loose scales there as well
- Student Are those sclaes part of the mosquito
Bugscope Team they are but they are loose
- Student ommatidia?
Bugscope Team the individual facets of the compound eye are called ommatidia
- Bugscope Team very few other insects have scales
- Bugscope Team singular of ommatidia is ommatidium
- Teacher The kids are here, we'll start in a minute
Bugscope Team Sweet
- Teacher This is a high powered mictroscope. Why is is black and white? (for a 2nd grader)
- 10:36am
- Bugscope Team we are using electrons rather than light to collect our images. electrons are so very small -- they are smaller than the wavelengths of visible light, so the images we see do not have color
- Student We will ask lots of questions!
Bugscope Team awesome
- Student What does the scale do?
Bugscope Team scales provide the colors we see on moth and butterfly wings, but more importantly, because they are relatively loose, they protect insects that have them from being caught in spider webs!
- Student What is the hook?
Bugscope Team the hook is one of the claws
- Bugscope Team insects have six legs, and usually they have two claws that open and close at the end of each leg
- Student What is the thing comin goff the hook?
Bugscope Team we can see a tiny sensory seta, like a hair, that lets the milkweed bug know when it is touching something
- Bugscope Team the curved thing is what helps the milkweed bug stick to surfaces so it does not fall off
- Bugscope Team this is the head of a male moth
- 10:41am
- Bugscope Team we know it is a male because it has very ornate antennae
- Bugscope Team female moths have sort of uninteresting anteanne
- Bugscope Team oops 'antennae'
- Bugscope Team this is one of the moth's compound eyes
- Student Do all bugs have six legs?
Bugscope Team all insects, as adults, have six legs, a head, a thorax, an abdomen, and two antennae
- Bugscope Team this is the moth's tongue, also called a proboscis
- Bugscope Team the tongue is coiled up when the moth flies
- Bugscope Team you can see here that the mosquito has lost one of its antennae
- Student how many tiny eyes are in a compound eye?
Bugscope Team there can be 10 or 12 to as many as 17,000 on some wasps
- Student do insects smell a bad snell when in danger?
Bugscope Team they are very sensitive to smell, and if there is danger they will often communicate that through chemical means -- creating a smell that other insects will understand
- Student What is the donut?
Bugscope Team that is called a pedicel, and it is the base of the antenna
- Bugscope Team now we see some palps, close to the head
- 10:46am
- Student what are the bumps?
Bugscope Team in the background? those are pits and craters in the carbon tape we use to stick the insects to the stub
- Student is this the stinger?
Bugscope Team yes it is, but it is really a mouthpart
- Bugscope Team the sharp parts are inside where we cannot see them now
- Student Does the stinkbug have the strongest smell?
Bugscope Team I am not sure. They do not like their own smell, but I am not sure which insect would make the strongest most offensive smell
- Student are there eyes all over the head?
Bugscope Team yes pretty much! it helps the insect see all around it without moving its head
- Student Do all animals attack you if you dont mess with them?
Bugscope Team no. most animals are not aggrssive and will not bother you. but that is the problem with African and Africanized honeybees -- they are aggressive and will attack you without being provoked.
- Bugscope Team so pretty!
- Bugscope Team because I am sitting at the microscope, called the SEM (scanning electron microscope), I can tweak the focus for us sometimes.
- Student what is that
Bugscope Team we are up very close to the mosquito's ommatidia -- the individual facets of the eye
- 10:52am
- Bugscope Team now we see part of the head, with tiny microsetae on it -- tiny hairs
- Bugscope Team you can see one of the mosquito's scales at the top, and those holes we see used to hold scales as well
- Bugscope Team this is cool -- you are doing a good job driving today
- Teacher We are changing class, back in a minute...
- Bugscope Team cool
- Bugscope Team mosquito!
- Bugscope Team the way you tell the males from the females is actually kind of like the moth -- the males have frilly, fancy antennae
- Bugscope Team and -- the males do not bite!
- 10:57am
- Student What the sticks?
Bugscope Team we are looking at the mosquito's legs, and also its proboscis, which holds the biting parts
- Bugscope Team now it's in the middle
- Bugscope Team the proboscis is like a sheath, like a scabbard for a sword
- Student what are those circles?
Bugscope Team the circles are bubbles in the double-stick tape we use to mount the insects for today's session
- Bugscope Team see all of the holes? those used to have scales sticking out of them
- Student what is this?
Bugscope Team this is the tip of the mosquito's proboscis, kind of like a tongue, and inside are the biting and cutting parts
- Bugscope Team this is cool -- this is one of the assassin bug's legs, and you can see that it is flattened, like a leaf
- Student what is this?
Bugscope Team it is part of one of the legs of an assassin bug that you brought us
- Bugscope Team the assassin bug attacks other insects and sucks the juice out of them. it disguises itself as a leaf and moves very slowly until it gets close enough to attack
- 11:02am
- Student What are those hairs?
Bugscope Team often, with insects, the hairs we see, which are usually called 'setae,' are sensory -- they help the insect feel its environment
- Bugscope Team this is so very small...
- Bugscope Team this is one of the milkweed bugs from your school
- Bugscope Team the tiny setae help insects smell, and tell if something is hot or cold, and also sense touch or wind
- Student How big can a milkweed bug get?
Bugscope Team some get 10 to 12 millimeters long, so a bit more than a centimeter
- Student Why does it have a long probscis hanging down?
Bugscope Team its proboscis is as long as its body! it uses it to pierce the plant's surface so it can drink the sap
- Student what kind of fly is it?
Bugscope Team I think it is a fly, but it may be a parasitic wasp, it is so small and its wings are gone
- Student how old is it?
- Student does bettles eat flies?
Bugscope Team there are always scavengers, and some beetles are scavengers like this
- Student is it going to eat it?
Bugscope Team I think so.
- 11:07am
- Student why is a fly not considered a mammal
Bugscope Team it is an invertebrate, meaning that it does not have a backbone. but it does not have any bones at all!
- Student why do flied have hair
Bugscope Team the very small hairs probably help it keep its body temperature stable as well as providing more surface area for flying
- Student why does it have these thorns
Bugscope Team the things like thorns help it sense its environment -- it has a shell, kind of like a shrimp, so it does not have skin
- Student why do the beetles put flies by their heads
Bugscope Team I think it may have wanted to bite that fly
- Bugscope Team sometimes the bristles are used by the insect to sense if its arms or legs are overextended
- Bugscope Team the pad at the lower right is called a pulvillus, and it has lots of what are called tenent setae on it -- those tiny hairs help it climb vertical surfaces and even walk upside down, like on the ceiling
- Teacher We are switching class again...
Bugscope Team cool!
- 11:13am
- Bugscope Team this is kind of gross
- Bugscope Team there is a lot of goo on the beetle's face
- Bugscope Team sometimes insects get fluid on them that dries like that, and we cannot see all of the details of the head
- Bugscope Team this is really cool
- Bugscope Team a mosquito -- a female mosquito -- will have four of these super sharp cutting blades
- Bugscope Team that is a single stylet that helps the milkweed bug cut into the milkweed pod
- Student what is that?
Bugscope Team it is like a tiny knife
- Bugscope Team to most insects, the juice from a milkweed is poisonous
- 11:18am
- Student what is he standing on
Bugscope Team that is doublestick carbon tape
- Student why does the antenna have hairs?
Bugscope Team the hairs are mostly chemoreceptors that help the bug smell the air
- Student what is that garbage?
Bugscope Team I think that is just what that is, garbage
- Bugscope Team this is a large sensort seta, probably used like cat or rat whiskers to let the bug sense when something is touching it
- Bugscope Team oops 'sensory'
- 11:23am
- Bugscope Team because insects have an exoskeleton, which is kind of like a shell -- or kind of like wearing a suit of armor -- they cannot feel with the surface of the shell when something is touching them. the setae stick through the shell -- through the exoskeleton -- and connect to nerves underneath
- Student how do the milkweed bugs walk?
Bugscope Team they have six tiny legs, and the legs have claws at the tips as well as what are called 'tenent setae' that help them climg to sufaces
- Bugscope Team this is a female mosquito -- only the females suck blood
- Bugscope Team male mosquitoes look almost like females but have fancier antennae
- Bugscope Team male mosquitoes live on nectar from flowers, or in some cases they just do not eat
- Bugscope Team you can see the compound eye now, with all of its facets, called ommatidia
- Student why do bugs have body parts?
Bugscope Team their bodies are segmented, similar to the way a knight, in the middle ages, has armor with segments so he can move his arms and legs
- Bugscope Team this is way up close to one of the ommatidia
- Bugscope Team now we are on the nano scale
- 11:28am
- Bugscope Team those features are about 100 nanometers in diameter -- some viruses are almost that size
- Student what are those bumps?
Bugscope Team we think they are kind of like the rods and cones in a human eye -- they help collect the light
- Bugscope Team this is such high magnification that the electron beam is distorting the surface of the eye
- Student What is the big one?
Bugscope Team that is a brochosome, which actually looks like a soccer ball. this one is hard to see
- Bugscope Team brochosomes are nanoparticles that are produced only by leafhoppers.
- Bugscope Team leafhoppers coat their cuticle -- the outside of their bodies -- with brochosomes
- Bugscope Team these are moth scales, from the moth's wing
- Bugscope Team scales are kind of like feathers
- Teacher The kids are gone, thanks so mucjh!
Bugscope Team oh...
- Bugscope Team is that it for today?
- Bugscope Team that was fun, and I hope the kids had a good time
- Teacher Yes, there was a lot of excitment in the room!
- Teacher They all really enjoyed controlling the microscope and asking questions!
- Bugscope Team great!
- Bugscope Team https://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2012-085
- 11:33am
- Bugscope Team that is the link to your member page
- Bugscope Team thank you for connecting with us today, and thank you for bringing insects and making sure everything worked
- Bugscope Team I'm going to shut down, but please email me if you need anything else
- Bugscope Team Thank You!
- Bugscope Team Bye!
