I was dissecting a beetle and found about 20 mites under the elytra (wing covers). Processed them through alcohol, cedarwood oil, toluene and mounted them in pine resin. Of the original 20 only 3 survived, others simply got lost during the processing -great technique
I am curious as to what the 9 inclusions (appears to be 10th also) that show up as black dots under BF (one located) and white inclusions under DIC.
Under crossed polarizers on an otherwise black fileld these 9 inclusions positively glow like stars.
BH2 20x SPlan + 1.25x intermediate + 2.5x relay lens. BF & DIC.
NU11126 NU11127
Last edited by NikonUser on Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
NU, the structures in your photos remind of "ring organs" and alike that are located on the ventral side and are discussed to have osmoregulatory functions. (To be regarded rather as a wild guess, but with these catchwords you may find a bit more info for comparison.)
BTW, Your 'hibernation activities' deliver most interesting forum postings.
Thus, I am inclined to praise the harsh Canadian climate.
Thanks Betty for the name. Could find very little info. on the www and no images.
My 1st thought was that they were statocysts but so many could cause confusion (assuming mites can get confused). I thought the reflective bodies had to be some inorganic crystal.
Osmoregulatory organs seem the best bet.
Pmax and DMap images under fully-crossed polarizers, 40x Splan + 1.25x +2.5x
Canadian climate can be quite balmy, locally we have had a heat wave for the last month.
Last Sunday, locally we had the hottest temp. in Canada: 29.7 C in the shade. Too hot to be in the sunshine.
NU11128 NU11129
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
NikonUser wrote:... I thought the reflective bodies had to be some inorganic crystal.
Why inorganic?. In general, organic compounds crystals aren't different of inorganic ones in X pol.
But again, why crystals?. This interference cross patterns aren't typical of crystals but of concentric or radialy organized refracting structures. For exemple, you can see them if you see potato starch grains in Xpol, and starch grains aren't crystals but highly concenctricaly structured macromolecules. I have observed this patterns in other structures made of amorfous materials like burbles in mountat medium in petrological slides, mountant filling porous rocks or in volcanic glass.
I can't justify it cause because my limited optical knowledge, but I supose that they are working like lenses allowing to view a conoscopic view in an otherwise normal image.
Took another photo of the mite under X-polarizers and with a 530nm wave plate engaged. As much fun as DIC -and a lot cheaper
NU11136
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
