These are Oncopeltus fasciatus, distantly related to the Dysdercus species (Cotton stainers) we know so well. Forcing them to turn at a bend imposes a short-lived opposite bias on their subsequent turning, ie. they will compensate and turn in the other direction when they come to the next junction, thus resuming in the original direction. This exp looks easy but it’s not – this took us 5 hours, and that’s when I handled them directly with my hands. Some others, those less fond of our creepy-crawly friends, used wooden sticks and paintbrushes( = more victims of drowning).
New on Flickr
Categories
Campaigns & Causes (26)
Daily Randomness (824)
From the dusty shelves (2)
Happenings & Events (88)
Paws at Work (25)
Personal Development (35)
Pets & Other Animals (31)
QuGee (53)
Seen/Heard/Read (135)
Socio-Environmental (47)
Spirituality & Beliefs (9)
The Global Nomad (13)
The Naturalist (179)
The Photographer (225)
The Postgraduate (46)
The Scout (11)
The Thinker (58)
The Undergraduate (63)
The Volunteer (37)
Travel & Explorations (53)
Web & Tech (45)
-
on Jan 21st, 2006 at 2:24 am
That’s not a real practical! Where’s the petri dishes? The antibiotic assay discs? And of course the selection of fungi?
Oh, I miss the creepy crawlies, I miss plants too!
I think I may be alergic to the fungi we use. I feel all itchy after every practical along my arms and today I felt sickly after today’s with Penicillium expansum.
on Jan 22nd, 2006 at 2:50 am
cannot use tweezers ah… ask xiyu lend you her aquarium planting ones….
on Jan 23rd, 2006 at 6:05 am
Not sure if I’d be willing to let Jac contaminate my tweezers… She’d have to autoclave them before returning them to me.