Connected on 2013-01-29 10:30:00 from Jefferson, Illinois, United States
- 9:18am
- Bugscope Team hello! We are still coating the sample and will put it into the 'scope in a few minutes
- 9:30am
- Bugscope Team sample is now in the 'scope; we're waiting for the vacuum get down to the right level
- Bugscope Team then we'll do some quick alignments and start making presets
- Bugscope Team almost ready...
- 9:43am
- 9:51am
- 9:56am
- 10:01am
- 10:08am
- Bugscope Team we are just about ready to roll
- Bugscope Team be right back..
- Bugscope Team k
- 10:19am
- Bugscope Team hello
- Teacher Hello! We are logging in all of our computers. Our students will all be here at 10:30
- Bugscope Team Hello Everyone!
- Bugscope Team Welcome to Bugscope!
- Guest HI
Bugscope Team Hi Amy and Taylor!
- Guest hi
Bugscope Team Hello Momo!
- Guest what the
Bugscope Team haha, Hello Dodo!
- 10:24am
- Bugscope Team what we are looking at right now is an elm bark beetle, which has a red elytra (the shell on its back, like where a ladybug has its spots)
- Bugscope Team elm bark beetles are true bugs, which have piercing/sucking mouthparts
- Guest COOL!
- Guest cool! where is the beetle from?
Bugscope Team this likely came from around here -- they get into your house in the wintertime
- Student AWESOME!!!
- Guest you*
- Bugscope Team you can see its compound eyes -- the bulblike things on either side of its head
- Guest how do yuo prevent them?
Bugscope Team they are not bad, for us; maybe just annoying
- Student whAT IS THAT
- Guest ok. how big can the bug get?
- 10:30am
- Guest what is that?
- Guest EWWW!
- Guest hey
- Guest Where do you find most of the bugs you get?
Bugscope Team people send them, even my mom..
- Guest hey
- Student can WE C A SPIDER NEXT?
- Guest whats up andrew
- Guest whats up
- Guest hi
- Guest Cool
- Student WHATS THE THING ON THE SIDE OF I HEADTS
Bugscope Team its antenna, on one side
- Teacher Ok the rest of us are slowly trickling in!
- Guest Hello
- Guest WOWW THAT IS GROSS!!!!!!!!!
- Guest hi
- Guest what color is it
Bugscope Team its back is red, and otherwise it is mostly black
- Guest is it poisoness
Bugscope Team they are not poisonous
- Guest IS THT A GRASSHOPPER
Bugscope Team nope. this is a true bug. it has sucking mouth parts (most of them use it to get juices out of plants, although some can suck blood or eat digested innards of other insects)
Bugscope Team grasshoppers have chewing mouthparts
- Guest wouldn't wanna find THAT in my room!
Bugscope Team it is very small
- Guest what is that?
- Guest hi
- Guest hi
- Guest h6i
- Guest where do they nest
- Guest hi
- Guest hi
- Guest hi
- Guest did its leg break off or something?
Bugscope Team its antenna broke off on the left there
- Student hi
- Guest whats going on
- Guest EWWW!!!!!!!!!!
- Guest What is that?
- Guest where does the bug guy work a5
- Guest im allergic to wasps...
- Guest what IS it?????????????
- Guest ew
- Student a head
- Guest what are those hairs on its arms
Bugscope Team those hairs on the arm are for sensing its environment
Bugscope Team since insects have a hard exterior (exoskeleton) they need the hairs (setae) to be able to feel things
- Bugscope Team we had a problem here with control of the microscope; I just fixed it
- Guest its a beetle
- Student what type of bug is that?!?
- 10:35am
- Bugscope Team this is a wasp, a parasitoid
- Student do they live HERE?
Bugscope Team haha yeah this is from Illinois
- Student hi
- Guest is it a germ?
- Student oh
- Bugscope Team see the bumps on the wasp's head?
- Guest soooo gross!
- Guest yes
- Student its a wasp
- Guest what are th ebumps on its head?
- Student yea BUDDY
- Student do they sting or bite?
Bugscope Team not us.
- Guest what are the bumps
- Guest oh cool
- Teacher beuatiful!
- Bugscope Team the larger ones on each end of the head are the compound eyes
- Student ok?
- Guest can the sting kill you
Bugscope Team no we are fine, and really they do not bother people
- Guest are they poisonous?
- Guest GROSS!
- Student CAN WE SEE A SPIDER NEXT?
Bugscope Team the spider is kind of disappointing today, I am sorry
- Bugscope Team spiders, because they have soft bodies, mostly, shrivel up when they die
- Guest what bug is next?
- Student oh
- Bugscope Team the three smaller bumps are called ocelli, and they are 'simple' eyes
Bugscope Team these simple eyes detect changes in light gradient quite well
- Guest a spider
- Student thanx scot!!
- Guest EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!
- Guest NAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSTYYYYYYYYYY!
- Guest you nasty
- Guest Holy shit
- Student what is that bug?
Bugscope Team this is a spider. it is an arachnid.
- Student cool
- Guest How do you tell the gender of this small wasp?
Bugscope Team we can usually tell when we see its stinger, or ovipositor ('egg-depositor'), because that would mean it is a female
- Student thats weird
- Guest IS THAT A SPIDER
Bugscope Team yes it is but I am sorry it is hard to make out the features
- Guest that looks gross
- Guest what kind of spider?
- 10:40am
- Guest what kind of spider is that
- Bugscope Team spiders are really pretty interesting
- Student is it poisoness
- Guest i like spiders
- Bugscope Team they all produce venom, and most of them produce web
- Student looks likes a spider coming out of it's egg
- Guest that is so gross! what kind of spider is it?
- Guest ...
- Guest my apoligies. I was not meaning to type this.
- Student it looks cool
- Guest what kind of spider is it?
- Bugscope Team they feed by injecting venom into their prey, and the venom dissolves the insides of the prey, whereupon the spider sucks it all up like a milkshake
- Student a mama is very happy
- Guest why does it look so weird
Bugscope Team it's 'cause it is dried
- Student is it dead?
Bugscope Team yes it is
- Guest How do you switch to a different bug?
Bugscope Team your teacher can do it
- Guest EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!
- Guest spiders must like milkshakes then
Bugscope Team haha Yeah
- Student cool
- Student hello
- Guest what kind of spider is it?
Bugscope Team we are not sure
- Guest whats that?
- Guest it looks like a cactus...
- Student what is that?
- Student hello
- Guest what part of the spider was that?
Bugscope Team that was the body, and the legs, perhaps obviously
- Student it is somthing
- Student awesome
- Guest GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
- Student no it is not
- Bugscope Team you can see its compound eyem and a few ocelli
- Guest what kind of fly is it
Bugscope Team it is much like a small housefly, but otherwise I am not sure
- Guest one of these went into my food *shudder
Bugscope Team ewww
- Guest ok
- Bugscope Team its antennae are on the front of its head, to the left
- Student a magnificent species
- Guest What is the purpose of the small hairs?
Bugscope Team they are sensory, many like cat or rat whiskers -- they sense touch and wind
- Guest i found one of these in my tea that i was currently drinking
- Student because they do
- Guest Thank you scot
- Guest Why do the eyes have rivits?
Bugscope Team those are individual facets of the eye, called ommatidia; each is a lens
- Student somewere
- Guest Thanks
- 10:45am
- Guest where is the nose
Bugscope Team they do not have noses but can smell using chemosensory setae (what we are supposed to call the hairs)
- Student is the fly turned upside down?
Bugscope Team it is on its side
- Student is it eating somone
- Guest why do flys like to get into food
- Guest what kind of fly is it?
Bugscope Team I am not sure. It is like a small housefly.
- Student oh
- Student so why do flies have so much hair
Bugscope Team they need them to sense their environment.
- Student to protect them
- Student because their is
- Guest is it on its side?
Bugscope Team yes it is
- Student do flys poop every time they land on somethin?
Bugscope Team it seems like it, but not really
- Student it has horns!
- Guest ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Guest what is that
- Guest horns!!!
- Guest a crane fly
- Guest how tough is the skin on the fly
Bugscope Team they don't really have skin -- insects have a shell called an exoskeleton, which is actually why they need so many hairs
- Guest is this the same fly?
Bugscope Team this is one of those large flies that looks like a huge mosquito
- Guest it looks like it has goosebumps on its eyes
- Student tis the minotaur of insects
Bugscope Team haha Yeah!
- Student it's always watching
- Guest Are the fly's senses more acute than ours?
- Student because it eats cranes
- Guest can you put a cochroach on?
Bugscope Team no cockroaches today, I am sorry
- Student no
- Guest where did you find it
- Guest what are those things below its eyes?
- Student why do i only see blood when i squish a flies head
- Guest what are those things between its eyes?\
- Guest why do flys have hair
Bugscope Team the hairs help them sense their environment
- Guest can you put a praying mantis?
- Guest he answered the hair thing a buch already
- Guest *bunch
- Student because they do and that is how they dew
- Guest What are the tube like structures protruding just in front of the eyes?
Bugscope Team those are antennae, and the ends are broken off
- Guest can u zoom in any more
Bugscope Team sure!
- Student its horns
- Student i can not
- Guest what is this?
- Guest eggs
- Student cool
- Guest a worm on the eye a while back?
- Guest are those eggs on it eye
- 10:50am
- Student is that the eye?
- Guest How do these majestic creatures consume their food?
- Guest its a head!!!
- Student looks
- Guest what is that
- Guest Are all of the bugs you show dead?
Bugscope Team yup. all the bugs are dead.
- Bugscope Team these are some of the ommatidia -- the facets of the compound eye, and to the right are microsetae, called the 'vestiture'
- Student what is the point of having so many eyes? wouldnt it confuse the insect
- Guest what are those round things
- Student is that hair
- Guest what are the eyes made of?
- Guest why are the eyes round
Bugscope Team they are a kind of lens, and it helps the eye collect light and images
- Guest What is the eye made up of?
Bugscope Team the surface is made of chitin, which is a protein kind of like our fingernails
- Guest ahhh
- Guest are the round things its eyes
- Student is that dandriff or is it decaying?
- Guest what are those things that look like scales?
Bugscope Team those are scales of the insect
- Student is that a female?
- Student how long is it's needle mouth?
- Guest why does it look like that and what are the ball like things around its head
Bugscope Team you can see the compound eyes, which cover the head
- Student is it true that only female mosquitos suck blood?
Bugscope Team yes it is!
- Guest How can you tell its a female?
Bugscope Team by its antennae, which are not frilly like those of a male
- Guest where are its eyes?
- Guest how long does it live
- Guest how much blood do they suck
- Guest Are those anntenas
- Guest why does it hurt when they suck on u or bite U?
Bugscope Team sometimes you do not feel it; but it is sticking a needle, kind of, into your skin
- Student no they are a different species
- Student mosquito eaters
- Guest do they not have eyes?
Bugscope Team the head is covered with ommatidia -- the facets of the compound eyes
- Guest is this the head or the eye
- Bugscope Team the round things are the bases of the antennae, called pedicelas
- 10:55am
- Bugscope Team oops pedicels
- Guest why do they lay eggs in water
Bugscope Team that is part of their life cycle -- the larvae grow in water
- Guest where is the place they suck suck blood the most
- Student what are the huge clumps above it's mouth?
Bugscope Team some of what we see are palps, which help taste the air
- Guest Is the structure of the female head different from that of a male?
Bugscope Team yup. males will generally have more feathery antennae, and also their proboscis (that straw like appendage the female bites you with) is not equipped to piece our skin.
- Guest isnt the circle of life basically a stright line ur not born again?\
- Guest like tadpoles?
Bugscope Team kind of
- Student is it sucking on a host, or is it dead?
- Student do they make noises?
Bugscope Team they make a whirring noise, and the males have special organs on their antennae that help them find the females from the noise their wings make
- Guest ooooooooooooooooooooh
- Guest is that a tick?
- Guest where can they not be found in the world
- Guest Is this a flea?
- Guest is it true misquitos are attracted to water?
Bugscope Team for the most part, they're more attracted to the smell of standing water. from all the bacterial growth in the water.
- Guest its a beetle'
- Guest Do they suck blood to provide for their offsprings?
Bugscope Team in a way; they suck blood because they need the protein to allow them to successfully lay their eggs
- Guest look at the top
- Guest what do the beetles eat
- Student is it squished
- Guest what is that
Bugscope Team this is a mite, and it has a lot of goo on it
- Guest .
- Guest goo?
- Guest Where can you find this beetle at?
Bugscope Team it is a large black beetle; you could find them outside, in bark or in dirt
- Guest can you show a praying mantis
- Guest how far can you zoom in
- Guest What are the root like structures protruding from the base of the head?
- Student are they a harm to humans?
Bugscope Team I don't think so, except they may give you allergies
- Guest attenae?
- Student do they eat people?
- Guest What is the material behind the insect
- Guest where did you find it?
- Guest no they do not eat people
- Student do bugs contain blood?
Bugscope Team they have a clear fluid that is called hemolymph, but it does not circulate through veins and arteries; it is inside of the body
- Guest What is the shell made of?
Bugscope Team chitin
- Guest do they bite people
Bugscope Team I don't think this kind does
- 11:00am
- Guest can you show a butterfly? or unicorn?(:\
Bugscope Team wedo not have any today, of either...
- Student is that a stick?
Bugscope Team it may be a sensory seta on the beetle's shell
- Guest did you find in the woods or something?
- Student what is the red that comes out when a flies head is squished?
- Student col
- Student cool
- Guest what is that?
- Guest what is that
- Guest what is that
- Guest What is chitin composed of?
Bugscope Team it is a protein that is much like the shell of a shrimp....
- Student is this the bottom of the beetle?
- Guest praying mantice?
- Guest can show a bug that is found in africa?
- Guest what is the coolest thing u looked at
- Guest is that its back?
- Bugscope Team this shows where the mite is on the beetle -- right in the center here but quite small
- Guest do you put a needle through them
- Guest Wha are the bump like things along the back of the creature?
- Guest how big can these get?
- Student can you show an ant?
- Guest IS THAT A MITE
- Student does it have orans, how many? or does it just have a brain?
- Guest What is the mite?
- Guest what kind of microscope are you using
- Guest *organ
- Guest what part of the beetle is thi?
- Guest *this
- Bugscope Team this is the beetle that the mite is on, right in the middle, so small we cannot see it well
- Guest How long does the beetle live?
- Bugscope Team this is the thorax and prothorax -- the 'trunk' part of the body
- Guest I see that it is only 42x magnified. Could you zoom in more?
- Guest where does it live?
- Bugscope Team the microscope is a scanning electron microscope (SEM)
- Guest where does the beetle live?
- Bugscope Team these are local beetles
- Student what does it eat?
- Guest do you have any non local beetles
- Student cool
- Bugscope Team now we have zoomed in more, and you can see the mite we had seen earlier
- Guest is the stringy stuff bacteria
- Guest what is this?
- Student what is the stringy material on it?
- Bugscope Team no nonlocal beetles today, that i know of
- 11:06am
- Bugscope Team beetles eat a variety of things, my guess is this is probably a ground beetle, in which case, it eats other insects (predatory)
- Bugscope Team some of the stringy material is fungal hyphae -- fungus that is rotting the beetle
- Guest cool
- Guest so the mite lives on the beetle?
- Guest Are many beetles predatory
- Guest Can you tell how old they are by what they look like?
- Guest WHAT PART OF THE BEETLE
- Bugscope Team they are often opportunistic eaters, and they eat whatever is available
- Guest is this the same pic
- Student is it the bacteria of the beetle or not of it?
- Bugscope Team yes the mite lives on the beetle; the mite is blind
- Guest how long do they live
- Bugscope Team sometimes we have insects from out of the country, but not today
- Guest how long do both of them live?
- Student is it male or female? how can you tell with beetles?
- Guest why is the mite blind
- Guest Is the mite a parasite?
- Student is it a parasite?
- Guest is the relationship between the mite and beetle parasitic?
- Guest yes probaly
- Guest Are they a bother to people?
- Bugscope Team we are not sure what mites eat; they either feed on hemolymph that comes through the exoskeleton, or they eat debris the beetle has stirred up
- Guest does the beetle know the mite is there??
- Bugscope Team I am not sure if they are parasitic or not.
- Guest what is that
- Bugscope Team i would guess these are probably just hitching a ride
- Guest how many eggs can a bettle lay at once
- Bugscope Team *the mites that is
- Student how big is this beetle
- Guest What part of the beetle is this?
- Guest WHAT IS THAT
- Guest the fly! :)
- Student a fly
- Guest wat is that white leg
- Guest WHAT IS THAT
- Guest nick, it says what kind of bug it is above the picture
- Guest what is this?
- Student what are the wings composed of?
- Bugscope Team so they're parasitic in the sense that they'll probably weigh the beetle down if there are enough of them, but other than that probably not that much harm to the beetle
- 11:11am
- Guest WHAT IS THAT
- Guest IS IT FUNGAS
- Guest pollen nick -_-
- Student what is that spicky thing?
- Guest What am I looking at?
- Bugscope Team this is a pollen grain
- Guest pollen
- Guest What is the spike like structure?
- Guest what is that spiky thing? sorry idk what else to call it...
- Bugscope Team we can take the mag down to see where it is
- Guest what is that used for?
- Student what does the pollen do?
- Guest yea yea
- Student is that a parasite?
- Guest what is the object in the lower left corner
- Guest What is the tube-like structure at the bottom left corner?
- Guest what is the thing at the top?
- Guest thanks sem!
- Guest WHAT IS THAT
- Student thanks
- Student most of the questions are being asked by my accomplice shawn
- Guest what is that
- Guest thats cool1
- Guest IS IT POLLON
- Bugscope Team the tubelike structure was a seta that had broken loose from this cranefly's body
- Guest its what we saw a minute ago zoomed out more
- Guest Thank you sem
- Student is that why it died?
- Guest yes nick and sean
- Guest it is pollen
- Guest WHAT IS THAT WIERD LOOKING THING
- Bugscope Team we often see things we do not recognize right away; this is a piece of a plant
- Guest awsome
- Guest that looks soo cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Guest does the pollen grain cover the whole body?
- Guest do you know what kind of plant?
- Bugscope Team the background here is microsetae on the exoskeleton of the cranefly
- Bugscope Team the pollen is only in certain places where it stuck
- Bugscope Team we do not know what kind of plant
- Guest does anything feed on pollen
- 11:16am
- Guest How can you tell its a crane fly?
- Guest bees
- Student what are the spikes
- Guest where do you find this?
- Bugscope Team I can tell it is a cranefly only because I looked at it earlier
- Guest Thank you Mrs. Gore!
- Guest WHAT IS A HAMULI
- Bugscope Team now we are looking at tiny wing hooks called hamuli
- Guest are those like the hairs on the fly we saw earlier?
- Guest what kind of venom do waspes have in them
- Bugscope Team hamuli connect the fore- and the hindwings of bees and wasps
- Guest What type of wasp is this?
- Guest WHAT IS A HAMULI
- Guest how long do these live?
- Bugscope Team this is a small parasitoid wasp; there are said to be parasitic (parasitoid) wasps for every insect and every life stage of every insect
- Guest looks can be decieving?
- Guest how do you catch these bugs do you set traps or something?
- Bugscope Team I think the average lifespan is about 6 weeks
- Student what are the wasp's stingers made of and is their a kind poision on them?
- Guest interesting...
- Student is it male of female?
- Bugscope Team one of our microscopists used a trap that was like a net, and he used his car lights to attract insects to the trap
- Guest Very interesting
- Guest what part of the wasp is this?
- Guest thats really coool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Guest interesting indeed
- Guest ITS THE HAMULI
- Bugscope Team stingers are made of chitin as well, and their poison sometimes just hurts, sometimes paralyzes other insects/arthropods
- Bugscope Team so this is on one of the wings -- I will take the mag down so you can see
- Guest i was stung by a red wasp and my face swelled up really bad
- Guest They use their stingers to catch prey?
- Guest what do you usually do with the info. you collect
- Bugscope Team Wyatt and Brent I am sorry to hear that.
- Guest what are the eyes made of?
- Guest GRASSHOPP?
- Student what type of wasp is that?
- Guest That looks like a dragonfly.
- 11:21am
- Student can it harm humans?
- Student hamuli
- Bugscope Team when we work with entomologists, like Joe, they save the info -- sometimes to tell species apart and sometimes to see how they collect pheromones, for example
- Student What is the lifespan of a wasp
- Bugscope Team usuallya few weeks, maybe 6 weeks as an adult; sometimes a whole season
- Guest it is 6 weeks
- Guest what do wasps eat?
- Guest Where can they be found?
- Guest beetle?
- Guest yep
- Bugscope Team often they like sugary stuff, like nectar from flowers
- Guest what kind of beetle?
- Teacher Thank you for this wonderful opportunity!
- Bugscope Team Nick & Sean you are right, this is a beetle
- Guest What is the purpose of the spike-like structures on the beetle's leg?
- Bugscope Team Mrs Gore I am sorry not everything is working today, not sure why
- Bugscope Team no clue.
- Guest it looks like a tail of a scorpain\
- Guest thats fine its still cool
- Bugscope Team normally I can click on someone's question to answer it alone, and also, the class can drive from place to place and control the 'scope
- Guest do you have any scorpions that you could show us?
- Guest This was still very interesting and beneficial
- Teacher We are just grateful for the oppurtunity.
- Bugscope Team some of the spines/spikes we see are for proprioception, and some are to protect the beetle from getting bitten
- Guest thanks
- Guest thank you
- Guest nice to meet you
- Guest Thank you!!
- Guest thanks forr the oppotunity bye
- Bugscope Team oh this is a ground beetle
- Guest Thank you sooo much for this amazing oppurtuinty :)
- Guest Thank you for the oppurtunity, it was nice to meet you guys.
- Guest thank you for the opportunity
- Bugscope Team Thank You, Everyone!
- Bugscope Team interesting legs
- Bugscope Team thanks!
- Guest Thank You! Nice to meet you!
- Student We are thankful for the wonderful experience!
- Bugscope Team bye!
- Guest thanks!!!!!!!nice to be able to do this with u
- Student yep thanks :)
- Guest Bye!!(:
- Guest thanks! this was cool i like bugs a little better now this is soooo cool thank you joe, sem, and scot
- Bugscope Team heh
- 11:26am
- Bugscope Team no problem, glad you guys enjoyed your time
- Bugscope Team Thank you!
- Guest bye and thanks!!!!
- Bugscope Team bye!
- Bugscope Team Bye everyone!
- Guest Thank you for your time it really expanded our knowledge about entomologist such as yourself and about these wonderful mysterious creastures!!!!!!!!
- Bugscope Team http://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2012-091
- Teacher We enjoyed working with you too, thanks again.
- Teacher Ok now I need to fill out a survey? Correct?
- Bugscope Team yes please..
- Teacher This was so incredibly awesome! I cannot tell you how intrigued my students were!
