Bens Branch Elementary
Session 2009-165

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Transcript

Connected on 2010-03-04 08:45:00 from Porter, TX, US

• 7:45 am
• Bugscope Teampumping down...
• 7:55 am

• 8:00 am

• Bugscope TeamGood morning, Jenn!
• Bugscope TeamI am starting to make the presets.

• 8:07 am

• 8:13 am

• 8:21 am

• 8:27 am

• Bugscope TeamJenn I am almost done. Be right back!
• 8:32 am
• TeacherHello! Are you there?
• Bugscope TeamYes
• Bugscope TeamJust got back
• Bugscope TeamJenn I just unlocked the session so that you cna drive if you'd like
• TeacherHello! Are you there?
• Bugscope Teamyes!

• Bugscope TeamCan you see the chat?
• Bugscope Teamyou may need to change your screen resolution to get the whole interface on your screen
• 8:41 am

• Teacherhello
• Bugscope TeamHi Jenn
• Bugscope Teamhttp://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2009-165/
• TeacherHello! What insect is this?
• Bugscope TeamThis is a millipede that you sent.
• Bugscope Teamit looks like a super long rolypoly

• Bugscope TeamYou sent us a lot of different insects. Great job on that!
• 8:46 am
• Bugscope Teamyou can see its head, where its antenna was (that hole in its head), and some of its legs.
• Bugscope TeamI am going to take you to a fruit fly

• Bugscope Teamlet us know when the image comes in
• TeacherWhat is the most common insect you get? That's a cool fruit fly
  Bugscope Teamhouse flies or spiders
• Bugscope Teamyou should see a tiny fly waving at you

• Bugscope Teamwell, and lately a lot of ladybugs

• Bugscope Teamthey were pretty bad this year. I've been cleaning them up from my house all winter
• TeacherHello fly! cool eye! I'll be typing kids questions and commnets. Jenn
• Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye, a little closer, and you can see the antenna on the left

• TeacherAwesome!
• Bugscope Teamnow we see a few facets (ommatidia) of the compound eye
• Bugscope Teamand you see a bunch of bristles, or setae, sticking up between the ommatidia
• Bugscope Teamthe ommatidia are the individual lenses of the eye
• Bugscope Teamand tthe setae that are sticking up are sensory -- they help the fly judge the speed and direction of the wind

• 8:51 am

• Bugscope Teamit depends on the insect, with fruit flies it's hard to tell
• Bugscope Teamwith houseflies, the females often have their eyes far apart, and those of the males are close together
• Bugscope TeamThe earwig you sent us is a girl, for instance, because its pincers are straight
• TeacherOh!
• Bugscope Teamif an insect has a stinger or an ovipositor (which is a stick-like egglaying device), it is a female
• TeacherWhat are the speckles on its eye?
• Bugscope Teammale earwig pincers are curved
• Bugscope Teammost bees, wasps, and ants you see are females because they do all the work
• Bugscope Teamyeah the males are kind of lazy
• TeacherCan you tell how big the fruit fly is?
  Bugscope Teamnow that we took the magnification down, you can use the micron bar, which is now in mm, in the lower left of the screen, to estimate how long the fruit fly is
• Bugscope Teamsome of what we see on the eye is dirt, but that is not the fruit fly's fault, necessarily. it might've happened after the fruit fly died

• TeacherLooks like its dancing :)
• TeacherHow many eggs can fruit fly lay in one year?
  Bugscope TeamThe female fruit fly will lay about 500 eggs. Fruit flies don't live for very long.
• 8:58 am
• TeacherHow long do they live?
  Bugscope Teamabout 30 days. They can mate more than once it seems.
• Bugscope TeamI just moved us to the flea

• TeacherScary Looking
• Bugscope TeamHi all!
• Bugscope Teamyou can see the eyespot, to the right
• Bugscope TeamHi Annie!
• TeacherYes! Cool Eye
• Bugscope Teamso the adults can lay up to 1000 total in their life span.
• Bugscope TeamAnnie is our entomologist, and she is up early to help. She lives in California.
• TeacherThank you for being up so early for us Annie
• Bugscope Teamthe biting part of the flea is to the left

• Bugscope TeamCalifornia, where it is sunny, but not warm
• Bugscope TeamNo problem!
• TeacherWhat are the fibers around the flea?
• Bugscope Teamand you can see that the flea has a bunch of fibers, maybe plant fibers, around it
• Bugscope Teamheh
• Bugscope Teamwe are not sure what they are -- maybe Cate knows
  Bugscope Teamit's from a cotton ball

• Bugscope TeamThis is cool
• Bugscope Teamthis is one of the biting parts, called laciniae
• Bugscope Teamlooks llike a chainsaw blade
• Bugscope Teamthe fleas are from Annie that she found on a dog I believe?
  Bugscope TeamHahaha, I found it on me!!!! We had a flea infestation two summers ago. There was a squirrel living in our roof and it brought its friends with it.
• TeacherDoes it hurt its prey?
  Bugscope Teamwell it hurts to get bitten, and fleas can transmit diseases.
• 9:03 am
• TeacherCan fleas live very long?
  Bugscope Teamtheir eggs can remain dormant for years, and then when you disturb them the new fleas pop right out
• TeacherWhat diseases can fleas transmit?
  Bugscope TeamFleas can transmit a form of typhus and they were responsible for the spread of the bubonic plague!
• Bugscope Teamthey could spread the plague from rats to humans
• Bugscope TeamFlea bites are very itchy and can get infected.
• TeacherHow can you prevent this? Would insect repellent work?
  Bugscope TeamI am not sure that insect repellent really works on fleas. They don't really have directed movement a lot of the time, they sort of hop wildly towards warm bodies. The best way to prevent flea bites is to not have fleas.
• TeacherCan flies fly? Or do they just jump?
  Bugscope TeamFleas have no wings. It is a secondary loss of wings--their ancestors had wings, but fleas lost them as they adapted to a life of sucking blood.

• Bugscope Teamfleas just jump, but they have powerful legs

• Teacherlooks fat like a walrus

• Bugscope Teamheh it is very flat
• Bugscope Teamvacuuming regularly will help keep the fleas at bay
• 9:08 am
• Bugscope Teamnow you can see the legs, which are like little jackrabbit legs
• Bugscope Teamthey can hop very high and far -- more than a few feet
• Bugscope Teamflea powder and flea collars on your pets will help
• TeacherHow long can the legs grow?
  Bugscope TeamThis is an adult flea, so they don't get much larger than this.
• TeacherHow large can a flea get?
  Bugscope TeamI am trying to think of the largest flea I have seen...they are about the size of a pin head.
• TeacherWhat animals eat fleas?
  Bugscope TeamI am not sure that fleas make up the majority of any animals diet. Things like rodents and raccoons and monkeys will eat the fleas when they groom themselves, but I think that is just because they have no where else to put them.
• Bugscope Teamyeah they do seem to get chunky

• TeacherWhat is this pic? Looks like a mustache.
  Bugscope TeamThe Latin name of this flea is translated as "comb head"
• Bugscope TeamThe average flea ranges in size from 1/12 to 1/6 inch long
• Bugscope TeamI would eat them too if I had no place to put them.
• Bugscope TeamA spider will eat a flea. Little birds if the can catch them.
• Bugscope Teamthis is the head
• Bugscope Teampointed upward
• 9:13 am
• Bugscope Teamyeah, if it's between a flea eating me, or me eating a flea.... i'll eat the flea.
• Bugscope Teamthey would probably get caught in your teeth
  Bugscope Teamthey are pretty small
• TeacherYuck! Scott

• TeacherLooks like smiley face :)
• Bugscope Teamyou know they say you should always floss
• Bugscope Teamlook at all of the eyes!
• TeacherWhat is this? some kids say looks like a butt
  Bugscope TeamKinda, yeah. The butt looking part is actually the spider's mouth. The bumps are its eyes.
• Teacherhairy butt that is
• Bugscope Teamthe part that looks like a butt -- the divided part -- is the chelicerae. They spread apart, and at the base are the fangs.]
• Bugscope Teamit is hairy! the hairs are important because they help the spider sense vibrations
• TeacherIs this what holds the fangs to make it move?
  Bugscope Teamyes the two separate parts below hold the fangs, which point toward each other -- inward
• Bugscope Teammost spiders, despite having all of those eyes, do not see very well
• Bugscope Teamthose hairs are called setae (pronounced see-tee)
• TeacherHow can you tell a girl spider or a boy spider?
  Bugscope Teamoften a girl spider is larger, and sometimes much much larger
• 9:18 am

• TeacherHow do they communicate?
  Bugscope Teamwell, the hairs (setae) help the spider to sense things, that is communication. but they also, probably, have chemical sensory hairs as well. i know ants do. some ants don't have any eyes at all, they only communicate through their setae
• TeacherNow you can tell what it is
• Bugscope Teamalso, in front of the face you see palps, and those palps are usually more narrow on a female.
• Bugscope Teamthe head and body are one part, called a cephalo (the head) thorax (the body). Cephalothorax.
• Bugscope Teamthe big round part at the back is the spider's abdomen, and that is where the spinnerets are that produce the silk -- the web.

• Bugscope Teamthis spider has either lost its abdomen, or it has shrunken quite a bit
• TeacherHow much silk can a spider produce?
  Bugscope Teamit depends on the spider, but one thing spiders can do is recycle their web by eating it
• Bugscope Teamthe cephalothorax is hardened, like the exoskeleton of an insect, but the abdomen is soft
• TeacherCan you tell what type of spider it is?
• Bugscope TeamSpiders have really interesting communication actually. LIke Alex says, spiders communicate by vibration--the male of some species will actually pluck the strands of a female's web to let her know that he is there (and not to eat him, please). In other species male spiders tap on hard surfaces, like the ground, playing a drum song to females. In jumping spiders, which have really good vision, the males wave their front legs for females--the legs have all this crazy UV-reflecting setae on them.
• TeacherWhat makes the web sticky?
• Bugscope Teamwe aren't sure what kind of spider this is
• Bugscope Teamwe aren't very good about identifying spiders
• 9:24 am
• Bugscope TeamI think wolf spiders and jumping spiders are common to find in houses
  Bugscope TeamAnd pholcid spiders--the cobweb spiders.
• Bugscope Teamsome of the silk is sticky, and that is the way the proteins are that make it up. and some of the web is not sticky
• Bugscope Teamif a spider got caught in its web it could eat its way out
• TeacherWhat is the main prey of a spider?
  Bugscope TeamMost spiders are generalist predators. They will eat anything that is smaller than them, well, not even that. They will eat anything they can catch!
• TeacherWhat kind of bugs will the spider not eat?
  Bugscope Teamthey will not eat Monarch butterflies because those butterflies eat milkweed, and the milkweed is poisonous to many other animals
• Bugscope Teamoh I didn't know that annie. Cool. I think I have a lot of those because I've been getting a lot of random webs
  Bugscope TeamThey look like a Tim Burton creation from Beetlejuice
• Bugscope Teamnot sure if someone told you this already, but the moth will often get stuck in a spider web, but can escape by shedding some of its scales
• 9:29 am
• Bugscope Teamspiders can also, if they sense they have been bitten in one of their legs, leg that leg fall off.
• TeacherHow many eggs does a spider lay?
  Bugscope Teamfemale spiders can lay up to 3000 eggs at a time!
• TeacherWhere do spiders mostly live?
  Bugscope TeamThey live everywhere. Different spiders specialize in different places. Some spiders like under rocks and bark. Some like in the garden. The cobweb spiders seem to like dry undisturbed places that are not frequently disturbed, like corners in the garage.
• Bugscope Teamand with monarch butterflies, the spiders will often cut them free if they get caught. Their diet of milkweed is often poisonous or just doesnt taste good to other insects.
• Bugscope Teamjenn, would you like us to move to something else now? or stay on the spider?
• TeacherWe can move on thanks

• Bugscope Teamokay, we are moving to a wasp, the compound eye of a wasp

• TeacherLooks like sunglasses
• Bugscope Teamheh, yeah, hadn't thought of that before!

• TeacherHow long do they live?
  Bugscope TeamSocial waspworkers will live about two months. Social wasp queens will live about a year.
• Bugscope Teamisn't it cool,l how the shape of the eye curves around the head?
• Bugscope TeamMy last response was from the department of redundancy department.
• Bugscope Teamnotice how the eye is made up of thousands of individual facets - called ommatidia

• 9:34 am

• TeacherCan a stinger break off if they sting someone
  Bugscope Teamthe only time the stinger breaks off, is if a honeybee stings a mammal. Their stingers are barbed and get stuck in the skin
• Bugscope Teamwow, this is so cool, not sure i've seen an eye like this before
• Bugscope Teamthis part of the had with the fine setae on it is called the vestiture
• TeacherWhy does the eye curve around?
  Bugscope TeamI don't know if anyone actually knows that--the notched eye is one of the character that you can use to identify wasps in this family
  Bugscope Teamwell, each ommatidium has a lens in it, and that lens is fixed (can't move like our eyes can), so the wasp needs many lens, all pointed in different directions in order to see a large wide angle view
• Bugscope Teamoops 'head'

• Bugscope TeamI think it is curved in part because the antennae are in the way there
  Bugscope TeamThat is probably true--it was a blind spot.

• Bugscope TeamThose were excellent complimentary answers

• Bugscope Teamnice shot here, wow
• Bugscope TeamJennden now has control...
• TeacherHi we lost connection had to relog in as Jennden
  Bugscope Teamno problemo

• Bugscope Teamsee that pollen grain?

• Bugscope Teama pollen grain!!!

• Bugscope Teamthere's the pollen grain
• TeacherIt looks like ball with spikes
  Bugscope Teamright on
• 9:40 am
• TeacherHow many eyes does a wasp have?
  Bugscope Teamwell, it has two of these large compound eyes, and may also have some simple eyes? but the compound eyes are made up of thousands of individual facets with lens's in them. probably in total 5000-6000 lens's?
• Bugscope Teampollen often looks like this.

• Bugscope Teamsee how the shape of the facet (called an ommatidium) is in a hexagon? that's because the entire eye curves, and that hexagonal shape allows the facets to be next to one another, but still allow for curvature of the entire eye
• Bugscope Teamthe wasp has three simple eyes called ocelli
• Bugscope Teamif the facets were squares, the curvature wouldn't work too well, there'd be large gaps in between the eye facets
• Teacherwhat about the stinger?

• Bugscope Teamthe stinger is broken, but we can drive down there
• Bugscope Teamokay, scott is going to drive to the stinger now
• Bugscope Teamthere's a very good preset of an ant stinger though
• Bugscope Teamthis is the abdomen...
• Bugscope Teamhere's the abdomen, where the stinger would come out
• 9:45 am
• Bugscope Teamso this is a close-p of the stinger, but it is broken
• Bugscope Teamclose-up i mean
• Bugscope Teamand the stinger is here
• Bugscope Teamlet's go check out an ocellus, a simple eye on the wasp

• Teacherlooks like a big wart
• Bugscope Teamunlike a compound eye, an ocellus is just a single lens in a single facet
• Bugscope Teamyou can just barely see a second one 'over the hill' to the left
• Bugscope Teamthere are three ocelli, and they are in a triangular pattern
• Bugscope Teamthey help flying insects judge the time of day and where the sun is so they don't get lost

• Bugscope Teamsince all of the insects we have seen so far do not wear wristwatches
• Bugscope TeamATTACK OF THE KILLER WART!!!

• Bugscope Teamocelli are called simple eyes, compared to the compound eyes
• TeacherScott and Alex are really funny
• Bugscope Teamcouldnt see much light if it's all covered up like it is

• Bugscope Teamsometimes dirt and grim and stuff gets onto the insects. we call that stuff juju
• Teacherfunny name sounds like junk

• 9:50 am
• Teacherin three minutes we switch to next class could you put the slide with insect waving?
• TeacherThis first class thanks you a lot
• Bugscope TeamThank You!
• Bugscope Teamnice job class, you all did great!

• TeacherBye my bug friend please keep on for five minutes and see you in 5 minutes:)
• Bugscope Teamok
• Bugscope TeamSee you soon!
• Bugscope TeamWe are going to look for the earwig?

• Bugscope Teamwhoops earwig! heh

• Teacherclass wants to take picture with bug waving please leave on that pic for 5 minutes please

• Bugscope Teamyou got it, no problem. we just wanted to grab a quick preset of the earwig
• Bugscope Teamno prob. does this session go all day?
• 9:56 am
• Bugscope Teamjust let us know when you are ready jennden
• Bugscope TeamThis is an interesting fly head
• TeacherReady Class Two says hello
• Bugscope Teamhi class, welcome to bugscope
• Bugscope Teamthese are live images from an electron microscope
• TeacherWhat's up
• Bugscope Teamwe are now looking at a fruit fly
• TeacherHow much does the electron microscope cost? $$$
  Bugscope Teamit cost about $700,000 in 1998
• Bugscope TeamThe antennae are the round things in the middle of the head.
• Bugscope Teamthe scope can magnify up to 700,000x, but for insects like these we stay in the 40x-40,000x range for best results
• Bugscope TeamMany flies have so-called aristate antennae. No other insects have antennae like this.
• Bugscope Teamthe reason all the images from the scope (live images by the way) are black and white is the electron microscope uses electrons to gather the image, not light. color is a property of the frequency of LIGHT. since we have no light in the scope, no color
• TeacherWhat bug do you frequently scan?
  Bugscope Teamants and fruit fly's are common for us, because they have such interesting anatomy
• 10:02 am
• TeacherDo you have a centipede to show us?
  Bugscope Teamwe have a millipede that looks a lot like an elongated roly-poly
• Bugscope Teamwe've also been receiving a lot of ladybugs this year

• Bugscope TeamThe smallest insects and arthropods are the most interesting for Bugscope
• Bugscope Teamwe have a millipede
• Bugscope Teamthis is the front end of the millipede, the head
• Bugscope Teamthis millipede is huge, so we can't see the whole thing in one image
• Teacherwhat is the smallest bug you can magnify?
  Bugscope Teamthe smallest insect would be no match for this scope. but on this sample, i think the fleas are the smallest?
• Bugscope TeamA millipede is NOT an insect! It is in the class Myriapoda.
• Bugscope TeamNot that anyone said that it was an insect
• Bugscope Teamsome mites are very small as well, smaller than a flea I think
  Bugscope TeamYes, mites can be smaller than fleas.
• Bugscope Teamand aphids are very small as well
• TeacherHow often do you look at bugs?
  Bugscope Teamwe have bugscope sessions about 3 times a week

• Bugscope TeamThe smallest insects are called fairyflies. They are tiny wasps that lay their eggs inside the eggs of aquatic beetles.

• Teacherwhat is this?

• Bugscope Teamthat, i believe, is a spiracle

• Bugscope Teamyes alex is right
• Bugscope Teama spiracle on a millipede

• 10:07 am

• TeacherWhy do some bugs curl up when they die and some don't?
  Bugscope TeamIt has to do with water and "blood pressure." When an insect or other arthropod dies, it looses water very quickly. The water is what keeps insects stretched out and moving normally (think about a water balloon). When the water dries up, the insect sort of deflates.
• Bugscope Teamthis spiracle is how the millipede breathes

• Bugscope Teaminsects, and myriapodas, do not breathe through their mouths, instead they have these spiracles. air goes inside and circulates into passages which can distribute the air nutrients into the blood
• TeacherWhat is the favorite type of bug you like to look at?
  Bugscope Teami like mites, because they are bugs that bug other bugs

• Bugscope TeamMy favorite for Bugscope are fleas and lice. We don't get lice very much.
• TeacherAnnie why did you chose to be an entomologist?
  Bugscope TeamI always liked to be outside and to capture critters, like toads and fireflies, and anything else that didn't run fast enough. When I was in high school, I was very good in my biology classes and thought that I might go into medical research. But, I had an aquatic entomology unit my senior year, and I just knew I wanted to be an entomologist from that moment on.
• Bugscope Teamwe sometimes get them donated from our secretary that schedules bugscope because her kids get them all the time
• Bugscope Teamthis is a claw, a fruit fly claw. many insects have claws
• Bugscope Teamlice i mean
• 10:12 am
• TeacherLike a monster claw
• Bugscope Teamargrgrgrg!!! me fruit fly, me have big claw, me use it to bug you!
• TeacherAre there different types of lice?
  Bugscope Teamyeah there's a few types, like head lice and body lice
  Bugscope TeamThere are TONS of lice. Like Cate said, humans only get two kinds of lice. But there are lice that feed on bird feathers, pig lice, bark lice.
• Teacherwhat courses did you take in college to prepare you to be an entomologist?
  Bugscope TeamIn college, I was a biology major. I took plant and animal biology, cell biology, microbiology, genetics, evolution, ecology, animal behavior and veterbrate physiology. This is a pretty standard set of classes for a general biology major. I also took two elective entomology classes. When I was in grad school I took all sort of entomology classes.
• Bugscope TeamThe bird lice are really diverse. I know some entomologists who studied the lice that live on penguins.
• TeacherThe kids want to know what do you do with the bugs after you show them on bug scope?
  Bugscope Teamwell, they usually get through out. or we might reuse a sample once or twice. but the insects are RIP, and covered in gold-palladium
• Bugscope Teamthrown out, not through out. silly me.
• 10:18 am

• Bugscope Teamnow we are moving to the head of a roly-poly, those are those little critters that roll into a ball when you touch them
• TeacherHow long have you all been doing BugScope?
  Bugscope Teambugscope has been going on for 11 years now. but this version of the interface is new as of 3 years ago, bugscope 2.0
• Bugscope Teamthey are NOT insects. they are crustaceans, like craba
  Bugscope TeamYou scooped me ;)
• TeacherBring on the Roly Poly
• Bugscope Teamalex and I arent true entomologiest. We learn about insects by doing Bugscope, which is pretty cool
• Bugscope Teamso this roly poly is kinda resting on its back, we are looking at the front of its face

• Bugscope TeamAlex and Cate know a lot about insects. I think they know more practical facts than many entomologists!
• Bugscope Teamnow you can see all the roly poly legs
• TeacherPicture has not changed can't see roly poly just claw
  Bugscope Teamtry clicking refresh (F5)
• Bugscope Teamsometimes the communication gets hosed, and a refresh will almost always fix it. hit the F5 button on your keyboard
• TeacherThanks F5 worked Oh Ahh!
• Bugscope Teamgreat!

• 10:23 am
• Bugscope Teamand this is the rear-end of the roly poly

• Teacherhow can you tell difference between male/female bugs?
  Bugscope Teamthat depends on the insect. Sometimes we can't tell the difference. But usually, like in butterflies, males will be more colorful (kind of like birds), or flies eyes will be different between males and females, or with earwigs females have straight pincers.

• Bugscope TeamFemale wasps and bees have stingers because they also work as ovipositors. Most of the ants and bees you see are females because they do most of the work
• Bugscope TeamMany female insects are fatter and larger than the males. But, it is hard to tell, like Cate says.

• TeacherWhat is the rarest insect you have every gotten at Bug Scope?
  Bugscope TeamOccasionally, someone will donate their collection from their graduate level entomology class. Sometimes the collections have uncommon insects.
• 10:28 am
• Bugscope Teamthese are tenent setae on a ladybug
• TeacherHow do you know the age of the bug?
  Bugscope TeamYou sort of have to guess. For example, ladybugs have one generation per year. The adults overwinter, they lay eggs, the larvae hatch, grow into adults and then hibernate. So you can extrapolate that most of them are about a year old. They could be younger, of course.
• TeacherWhat are we looking at now?
  Bugscope Teamthese are ladybug tenent setae, they are hair like structures that help the ladybug stick to surfaces it climbs
• TeacherWhat is the biggest insect Bug Scope has gotten?
  Bugscope TeamWe got a giant millipede once that made scott scream a little in surprise when he opened the envelope it was sitting in

• Bugscope Teamit was really funny

• TeacherWhat is this?
• Bugscope Teamthis is a ladybug

• Bugscope TeamWe ended up cutting it up and using little sections of it because it was covered in mites

• TeacherHow many different kind of lady bugs have you gotten?
  Bugscope TeamMost of the ones that we get are the Asian multicolored ladybeetle. We have used maybe three other species.
• 10:34 am
• TeacherHave you ever received a live bug in the mail?
  Bugscope Teamoh yeah, sometimes they crawl out the the envelope and they are upset!
• Bugscope TeamUgh yeah the giant millipede...
• Bugscope Teamhahaha, that is a question for Cate!
• Bugscope Teamyeah I dont like getting live insects

• Bugscope TeamLive angry antlions

• Bugscope Teamwe usually will stick them in the freezer to kill them
• Bugscope TeamThe live insects also will eat their travel companions.
• TeacherDoes the color of lady bug's back depend on what type of lady bug it is?
  Bugscope TeamUsually. The Asian multicolor ladybeetle has many different colors and different numbers of spots. Other ladybugs are more consistent. Sometimes the males and females will have different numbers of spots.
• Bugscope Teamcool, these are the internal wings of the ladybug, you know those wings that don't always go back under the outer shell
• TeacherWhat colors have you seen?
• Bugscope TeamAsian multicolored ladybeetles, the ones that are so abundant in the fall and that bite, can be red, yellow, orange.
• Bugscope TeamThere are lady bugs that are solid black with red spots, there is one species that is white, one that is pinkish. Most of the other beetles in the same family are sort of a boring brown color.
• TeacherCan you show us a spider?
• 10:40 am
• Bugscope Teamhere comes the head of a spider

• TeacherLooks like a hairy cow
• Bugscope Teamyou can see the ocelli (simple eyes) here, 8 of them, and below that the fangs... mooo...

• TeacherWhat type of spider is this?
  Bugscope TeamWe are not really sure. I would guess that it is a wolf spider.
• Bugscope TeamSpider identification is not my area of expertise

• Bugscope Teamlet's go look at the detail of a spider leg
• Bugscope Teamit is difficult for us to identify spiders, in part because they are often shrunken when we get them

• Bugscope Teamthis is a striped pattern that also shows up on the head
• TeacherHow can you tell difference between male and female spider?
  Bugscope Teamfemale spiders are often much larger than males, and if they are the same size the females may be plumper because they carry eggs
• Bugscope Teamwe have never seen this before and are not sure what its purpose is

• 10:45 am

• TeacherHow many babies does a spider's egg sac have?

• Bugscope Teamalso, male spiders often have large pedipalps, or palps, in front of the fangs, and female spiders have finer more narrow palps

• Bugscope TeamAnnie has to log out; I have to do some entomology. The rest of the Bugscope team will stay right here...but I have to go. Thank you for the good questions!
• Bugscope Teamcertainly the number of baby spiders varies among species, but one reference tells us there may be 3000.
• Bugscope Teambye bye--sorry to distract from the conversation about spiders!
• Bugscope TeamThank you, Annie!

• TeacherWhat is this?
• Bugscope Teamthis is the back of the spider -- the back of the cephalothorax

• Bugscope Teamthe abdomen is either quite shrunken or missing

• Bugscope Teamthe cephalothorax is hardened and thicker, like an insect's exoskeleton, but the abdomen is soft and shrinks easily

• 10:50 am
• Bugscope Teamthis is a moth or butterfly scale, and it is right at the junction between the chelicers, or chelicerae, that the spider uses to help it bite
• Bugscope Teamthis scale has no holes!!!

• Bugscope Teamscales usually have holes in between the ribs. but this one doesn't. odd, i've never seen that before

• Teacherlooks like a potatoe chip with ridges
  Bugscope Teamruffles, now i'm hungry

• Bugscope Teamyeah looks just like a ruffles chip

• TeacherWhat is this?
• TeacherCan you show us another bug?
• Bugscope Teamsure, here is a wasp, a compound eye on a wasp

• Bugscope Teamthere is where one of the antennae was

• Bugscope Teamthat hole
• Bugscope Teamand now we see the other atnenna

• Bugscope Teamit is also broken

• 10:55 am

• TeacherHow many wasp live in one hive?
• Bugscope Teamoops I should have said 'antenna'

• Bugscope Teamsome wasps are solitary, so it varies, of course

• Bugscope Teamthere are many tiny parasitic wasps that we do not see often
• Bugscope Teamhere are the wasp mandibles, they help it scope food into it's mouth area
• TeacherWhy do wasp and bees dies after they sting oneone?
• Bugscope Teamhoneybees die because when they sting, the sting is left in your skin, and it rips part of the abdomen open
• Bugscope Teamwasps and some other bees can sting repeatedly

• TeacherFive minute break next class comming. Thank you so much! Bye!
• Bugscope Teamok
• Bugscope TeamBye!

• 11:02 am
• Bugscope Teamthe stinger only sticks in mammals
• Bugscope TeamI didn't know that.
• TeacherHello third class is in. Let's start
• 11:07 am
• Bugscope Teamhi there, welcome to bugscope!
• Bugscope Teamthis is a fruit fly
• Bugscope Teamyou can see its two compound eyes on either side of its head
• Bugscope Teamand the bump sticking out of its mouth area is its proboscis

• TeacherLooks hairy hello there
  Bugscope Teamyeah, sure does, but those aren't really hairs. they are called setae (pronounced see-tee)

• TeacherWhat is setae?
  Bugscope Teamsetae(see-tee) is the plural form. For one, it's seta.
• Bugscope Teamsetae help insects sense their environment. setae can sense movement, taste, temperature, smells, etc.
• Bugscope Teamsetae are sensory objects on all insects
• Bugscope Teamsince insects have an outer shell that can't feel (exoskeleton), they need those setae, which stick through the exoskeleton to nerves underneath, to feel their environment

• Bugscope Teameven the compound eye has setae

• Bugscope Teameach of those bumps is called an ommatidium, each one has a lens in it
• 11:12 am
• Bugscope Teamthose setae are comparable to cat or rat whiskers --- they help the fruit fly feel the force and direction of the wind.
• Bugscope Teamso the fly sees thousands of images, but the bug brain puts it all together into one. kinda like how our human brains put two images into one...

• Bugscope Teamif you had compound eyes you would have a better view; people might not be able to sneak up on you so easily

• Bugscope Teamalso, if you had compound eyes you would be able to register motion more quickly

• Bugscope Teamchanges in the visual field would show up very quickly
• Bugscope Teamhere is an ant stinger
• Bugscope Teammany ants do not have stingers; they might bit, though
• Bugscope Teambite, that is...
• TeacherDo the stingers have poison?
  Bugscope Teamfire ants are venomous, but the harvester ant has a very potent sting and is said to be the most venomous insect
• Bugscope TeamI think they do have some kind of venom. Sometimes it is formic acid.

• TeacherIs this still the stinger?
• Bugscope Teamsome ants have, rather than a stinger, a sort of volcano-looking orifice at the tip of the abdomen, which is called a 'gaster' in an ant. that little volcano will spray formic acid
• Bugscope Teamyep, this is a close-up of the stinger
• Bugscope Teamyes that is the stinger up close
• 11:18 am
• Bugscope Teamthere is a lot of juju on the stinger, perhaps some venom that leaked out
• TeacherCan you die from their bite?

• Bugscope Teammost people will not die -- it is just very painful. but some people who are allergic, or who get hundreds of stings, may die
• Bugscope TeamSome ants bite and do not sting. Some bite and spray venom on the bitten area. Some bite and inject formic acid with a stinger. Harvester and fire ants bite and sting in a two-part process. The ants will grab hold with their mandibles, and then pivot around, repeatedly stinging and injecting venom. The venom includes an alkaloid poison. Fire ant venom includes an alarm pheromone which chemically alerts other ants in the vicinity.
• Bugscope Teamnotice the scale bar in the lower left, one um = one micron, that's one millionth of a meter

• Bugscope Teama bacterium -- the rod-shaped kind called bacilli -- is usually about 2 microns long

• Bugscope Teamso the very tip of the ant stinger is less than one micron

• Bugscope Teamhere's an earwig

• Bugscope Teamthis is a male earwig you sent
• Bugscope Teamscott is going to try and find some parasites on this earwig

• 11:23 am

• TeacherDo these bugs live in your ears?

• Bugscope Teamnot mine!

• Bugscope Teamearwigs are plant pests
• Bugscope Teamand it is sometimes said that they could crawl into your ear, and they could; but mostly they don't
• TeacherWhere are the eyes on the earwig?

• Bugscope Teamsee one now?
• Bugscope Teamhi lcjh, welcome to bugscope, we are in a session with jennden

• Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye
• Bugscope Teamwe are looking past one of the palps
• Bugscope Teamand notice, setae are all over the place, that's typical for an insect

• Bugscope Teamcool, this is an any
• Bugscope Teamant!
• Bugscope Teamant
• Bugscope Teamnot an any, an ant
• Bugscope Teamyou can see one of its eyes too
• Bugscope Teamand you can see its mandibles
• 11:28 am
• Bugscope Teaminsect mandibles open like a gate, from side to side; not like ours
• Bugscope Team and setae again

• Bugscope Teamah, there's a compound eye!

• Bugscope Teamsome ants have them, some don't
• Bugscope Teambut in general, ants don't need large compound eyes because they have such good sense with their setae, and use chemicals to smell their way around
• Bugscope Teamterrestrial insects often have less complex compound eyes compared to flying insects

• Bugscope Teamhi cubs, welcome to bugscope, we are in a session with jennden, but feel free to ask a question or two if you need
• Bugscope Teamthat is the spider's leg

• Bugscope Teamif we go to the head, we can see that it has the same striped pattern on it

• Bugscope Teamocelli - simple eyes

• Bugscope Teamyeah, there's that pattern, wild, that is cool

• TeacherHow old do spiders get and what is the black spot?
  Bugscope Teamthe average life span is 1-2 years. But that is all dependent on the type of spider
• Bugscope Teamwe have never seen this before. it is possible the dark areas reflect light a different way
• 11:34 am
• Bugscope Teamthe black spot is where there was something on there that came off after the spider was coated with gold palladium
  Bugscope Teamprobably where a small piece of dust blew off after the coating
• Bugscope Teamyeah, some spiders can live 20 years, but that's only if they are in human captivity and fed and protected
• Bugscope Teamsome spiders grow and molt, and some do not
• TeacherHow much poison is in a black widow?
• GuestWhat part of the spider are we looking at? what is the circular structure to the left?
  Bugscope Teamthis is the spider head, between/near the eyes; and that is a piece of dirt of some sort
• Bugscope Teamall spiders feed by injecting venom into their prey. the venom dissolves the inner organs of the prey, and the spider sucks it all back out like a milkshake
• Bugscope Teamthe venom of black widows is a neurotoxin and it may interfere with the nerve impulses to muscle tissue. After being biten from a black widow one may feel painful rigidity in the muscles of the abdomen and a feeling of tightness in the chest.
• TeacherHow long is the incubation period on the spider?
  Bugscope Teamlooks like most spider eggs hatch with 30 days, but it varies from species to species
• Bugscope Teamin general, the female spider bite is more poisonous than the male, at least that is true for black widows
• 11:39 am
• TeacherDo spiders attack only when they feel threatened?
  Bugscope Teamyes, most spiders are shy, this includes the black widow, but if threatened they will bite
• Bugscope TeamOnly the female black widow bites humans, and she bites only when disturbed, especially while protecting her eggs.
• TeacherHow much is gold palladium?does it have real gold in it
  Bugscope Teamit costs $390 for a thin disc of it that gets used up after maybe 200 coatings
• Bugscope Teammany spiders are territorial, and they will stay in pretty much one place
• GuestWhat type of spider are we looking at?
  Bugscope Teamwe are not sure cubs
• Bugscope Teamit has real gold and real palladium in it; it makes the sample look silver because palladium is silver
• Bugscope Teamthe samples we are looking at have very fine coats of gold-palladium on them -- only 8 or 10 nanometers
• Bugscope Teamyes we are not very good with spiders, and they are often shrunken and hard to recognize

• Bugscope Teamthat is, we are not good at identifying spiders
• Bugscope Teamthis is the head of a flea
• Bugscope Teamyou can see its eye to the right
• Bugscope Teamit is sort of caught up in cotton fibers
• 11:44 am

• Bugscope Teamit is likely it does not see very well

• TeacherDo spiders die after they have babies?
  Bugscope Teamsometimes they do; really it depends on the species

• Bugscope Teamthese are the laciniae -- the sharp cutting parts of the flea that help it bite you
• Bugscope Teamoften they will move back and forth like an electrical steak knife

• Bugscope Teamthis is one of the ants, and we see the antenna in the foreground

• 11:49 am
• Bugscope Teamthe part of the antenna closest to the head is called the 'scape.'

• Bugscope Teamthe ant has little combs built into its forelimbs that help it keep its antennae clean

• Bugscope Teamhere's the abdomen of the ant

• Bugscope Teamthe ant abdomen is called a gaster

• 11:54 am

• Bugscope Teamthis is its stinger

• Bugscope Teamthis is a face only a mother could love
• Bugscope Teama pillbug or roly poly or woodlouse. It has many names
• Teacherlooks mad
• Bugscope Teamnow we are face to face with (heh Cate) with a rolypoly
• Bugscope Teamyes it does look mad!
• Bugscope Teamyeah, he looks like he's saying: "hmmrumph!"

• Bugscope Teamyou can just barelyl see part of the eye

• Bugscope Teamrolypolies are also called sowbugs, pillbugs, and 'woodlice'
• Bugscope Teamthey are not insects; they are actually crustaceans

• Bugscope Teamlike crabs and lobsters

• Bugscope Teamthere are giant ones in the ocean that are the size of a small dog
• Bugscope Teamthey are also called, with other creatures like the, 'isopods.'

• 11:59 am

• Bugscope Teamiso means 'the same,' like in an isosceles triangle
• Bugscope Teamand pod means 'foot'

• Bugscope Teamit's because all 14 of their pointy little feet are the same

• TeacherThank you for a wonderful day and we will see you tomorrow. Thank you all.

• Bugscope Teamall the chat and images from today's session are save to your member page: http://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2009-165
• Bugscope TeamThank You!

• Bugscope Teamcubs and lcjh let us know if you would like to drive a bit
• 12:04 pm
• Bugscope Teamcubs we just gave you the wheel
• Bugscope Teamlet us know if you want to drive -- we have been on since early this morning and are about ready to shut things down