This is the bee's knees! (really)
Moderators: MacroMike, nzmacro, Ken Ramos, twebster, S. Alden
-
- Posts: 1200
- Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:50 am
- Location: Issaquah, WA USA
This is the bee's knees! (really)
Don't have a clue where the old "bee's knees" expression came from, but this picture illustrates a real one.
The specialization of insect legs is a great subject for photomicrography. Like the water boatman, the honeybee's legs are highly specialized. Here you can see the pollen combs which collect pollen from the middle legs and abdomen. The stiff bristles ("pecten" or "rake") at the bottom of the tibia collects the pollen from the pollen combs on the opposite side of the body. The pollen is collected into the space above the "anvil-like" auricle. When the bee bends it's leg back and forth (during flight) the pollen is crushed in this "pollen press" and packed into the pollen basket (located on the opposite side of the tibia from this view).
Nikon 3X (large photo), 2.5X photoeyepiece. Canon 10D. Fiber optic illumination.
-
- Posts: 440
- Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:17 am
- Location: Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Contact:
This is some great educational stuff charles, just like Wim said.
In my school we put some samples of forest soil under a microscope, most of the girls ran away screeming when they saw the huge mandibles of a beetle But we only have normal lighting for the microscopes at our school. So you lose a lot of detail, in color anyway.
I have permission to use our school microscopes for private purpose in my spare time. Maybe I can even borrow our schools camera, also an olympus, an take some shots.
In my school we put some samples of forest soil under a microscope, most of the girls ran away screeming when they saw the huge mandibles of a beetle But we only have normal lighting for the microscopes at our school. So you lose a lot of detail, in color anyway.
I have permission to use our school microscopes for private purpose in my spare time. Maybe I can even borrow our schools camera, also an olympus, an take some shots.
-
- Posts: 1200
- Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:50 am
- Location: Issaquah, WA USA