Search found 42 matches

by john sp.
Thu May 05, 2011 2:27 pm
Forum: General Discussion Forum and Community Announcements
Topic: Courting Behavior of Male Jumping Spider
Replies: 0
Views: 896

Courting Behavior of Male Jumping Spider

I found this recently posted little article on the NPR website that looks at the interesting "dance" of a courting jumping spider. It includes embedded videos.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/ ... ll-the-way
by john sp.
Mon Dec 27, 2010 3:19 pm
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: Pyxicola ciliate...video
Replies: 3
Views: 1161

The similarities are certainly there, but they might better be thought of as cousins, Mitch. They represent different families of Pertrichia (Subclass), Sessilida (Order). Pyxicola is a genus of the Vaginicolidae family and Vorticella is a genus of the Vorticellidae family. At least that is how the ...
by john sp.
Mon Dec 27, 2010 12:30 pm
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: Pyxicola ciliate...video
Replies: 3
Views: 1161

Thanks for posting another interesting video, Francisco. Your creature does indeed look much like the drawing for Pyxicola annulata in The Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa. I see that they refer to the "lid" as the operculum, in case that is of interest to anyone.

John
by john sp.
Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:25 am
Forum: Nature Photography -- Macro and Close-up
Topic: Merry Christmas
Replies: 4
Views: 1023

Nicely done to both of you.

And Merry Christmas, as well.
by john sp.
Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:44 am
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: profile view of amoeba test
Replies: 7
Views: 4438

The "cross-section" that is revealed in those pictures is amazing. I don't think I've seen others that so fully reveal the amoeba inside, including the attachment points to the test.

Is it likely that this is a relatively young amoeba for its test to be so translucent?

John
by john sp.
Mon Dec 20, 2010 9:21 am
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: Cell Division In Ciliates
Replies: 4
Views: 3802

Hi Mitch, thanks for sharing this update on what's happening in your aquarium. I'm intrigued by how the populations of differrent critters come and go over time. Clearly, these guys are in a boom phase. Although I'm no expert, I'll put in my 2 cents worth towards an ID. I'm thinking some sort of Col...
by john sp.
Thu Dec 16, 2010 5:08 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Second Hand Nikon Instrument-very solid.
Replies: 5
Views: 5433

Just comparing the pictures, it looks a little like this Ske. http://earth2geologists.net/Microscopes/photogallery/Nikon_Ske_Pol.jpg This link is taken from James McHone's website, where he has quite a bit of information on polarized microscopy. http://earth2geologists.net/Microscopes/index.htm Anot...
by john sp.
Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:10 pm
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: Tokophrya!
Replies: 4
Views: 1780

I haven't watched it through a second time to confirm what I think I was seeing, but it looked to me that as the cilia separate from the "prey", you can see them swim off by themselves.
by john sp.
Thu Dec 16, 2010 8:03 am
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: small Stentor (Protozoan)
Replies: 7
Views: 2102

If we are right about this being a stentor, it would appear to be in its free-swimming mode. I would assume that the oral area would be towards the upper right. DIC gives a very strong cross-sectional view, and since what appear to be the nuclei are so visible, this is probaby a mid-depth view. The ...
by john sp.
Wed Dec 15, 2010 2:50 pm
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: small Stentor (Protozoan)
Replies: 7
Views: 2102

Looking at this photo, I'm reminded of Arturo's Stentor photo with its "string of pearls" nucleus.

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=11125

John
by john sp.
Wed Dec 15, 2010 7:36 am
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: Euplotes protozoan
Replies: 2
Views: 1295

Thanks to Mitch giving this one a bump, I get another opportunity to complement you on this series of photos, which so nicely give a more complete picture of this protozoa, from top to bottom.
by john sp.
Wed Dec 15, 2010 7:24 am
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: The usual suspects. Paramecia, amoeba, Bdelloid rotifer
Replies: 13
Views: 5442

"An Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa" (2nd ed) suggests that the amoeboid motion in Pelomyxa is distinctive "with the cytoplasm flowing along the center of the body and spreading out, fountain-like, at the anterior end." I wasn't quite sure what to make of the next sentence, regarding feeding. "The...
by john sp.
Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:26 am
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: Leaf casts (Thanks Manfred!)
Replies: 11
Views: 4431

Brian, looks like a line break got introduced into the url for the third photo. Maybe you can mend it back together (with delete or back space) and then see if the image displays on this page. [Fixed by Admin] I think that your "failed" darkfield actually turned out just about right for capturing th...
by john sp.
Mon Dec 13, 2010 2:33 pm
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: Prorodon ?
Replies: 1
Views: 2924

The vast number of ciliates with their many similarities makes identification difficult, and I'm hardly an expert. I did run across another possibility, which looks similar to Prorodon, Holophrya. I'm assuming that the wedge shaped area towards the bottom of the picture (around 7 o'clock) is part of...
by john sp.
Sun Dec 12, 2010 12:05 pm
Forum: Macro and Micro Technique and Technical Discussions
Topic: what stacker?
Replies: 9
Views: 2752

You are correct that your Windows XP will likely not use more than about 3GB of RAM, but this is because it probably is the 32-bit version of the operating system. It really is only since the introduction of Vista and more so Windows 7 that PC manufacturers have switched over to the 64-bit versions ...