Ecto-parasites

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Philsbats
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Ecto-parasites

Post by Philsbats »

Has anyone got any experience of either slide preparation of mites and ticks or the photography of said little varmits.
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twebster
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Post by twebster »

Hello again, Philsbats :D

It just so happens that I've been thinking about these guys myself. I have a veterenarian just down the street from me that should be able to provide an ample supply of specimens :!: :D

When I went to university I knew a gentleman who specialized in parasites and photographed them through the microscope. Andris would prepare them in one of two ways depending on the specimen's size. First he would soak very small fleas/ticks in hydrogen peroxide to bleach them (I forget for how long). Then he would soak the flea/tick in a stain similar to eosin (?), and then whole mount in glycerin. This really only worked for the very smallest of specimens.

Larger specimens were fixed, mounted in paraffin blocks, and sectioned longitudinally with a microtome. The thin sections were then stained for observation. This was quite a long process. I hope to have a microtome come this next February and carve up a few fleas/ticks of my own...or, at least, of my dog's :!: :shock: :D

Best regards, :D
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Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

:? It seems everyone has a steady supply of something to photograph from, i.e. birdbaths, garden ponds, treatment ponds, and now dogs! All I have to resort to is Leeuwenhoek tactics, myself :shock: I promise you, if I do it won't be pretty :lol: :!:
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MikeBinOKlahoma
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Post by MikeBinOKlahoma »

I have taken a couple of shots of North American wood ticks. It was before I had a bellows lens, so magnification wasn't very high for the size of subject. By cropping heavily, I produced a tolerable web image, but no more. I used standard macro techniques, the hard part was finding a tick in a clear area before it found me! Any info in particular that you are looking for?

I've not used a microscope in decades, and have never had formal training in slide preparation, so can't help you there. But there are some very smart and experienced people on this website who can, I'll bet! Tom has you off to a running start!
Mike Broderick
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Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

:D Hi, its me again (Ken). I was just reading Mikes comment and it dawned on me that sometime back I posted a Water Mite here on the net, that was photographed using a "dime" as a stop on the blue filter directly under the condenser with the condenser diaphram almost wide open and the Kholer diaphram fully open. You can find this image easily by clicking on the Appreciation Forum and look for "Water Mite?" I shot that photo with a Fuji 2650 digital camera held to the eyepiece of an Axiostar Plus. I did nothing more than place a drop of water on the slide, which just happen to contain the Water Mite, and covered with a No.2 coverslip. Hope this helps 8)
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Phila

Ticks and mites

Post by Phila »

Thanks for the info chaps. I've been into wildlife for years and photography almost as long. I've got an old Russian microscope - had it for nearly 30years. Its got a 7x and 15x eyepiece and a 20x ocular(?). I have a Canon ftb(QL) which is again almost 30 years old. Its trusty and easy to work with. Unfortunately its has recently started to show its age and a camera mechanic doesn't think its worth repairing. I've also got a Mamiya 645 2.25 format camera. Plus I have the Dimage. I find the Dimage for general wildlife and landscape very good. the only feature I miss is the manual focus.

I have a bellows and have done some photography in the past with the Canon. Cracking the exposure and flsh distance was the hardest part Marriage and kids got in the way but now I'm starting to re-invent my childhood. I recently qualified as a Bat Warden (they are a protected species) and do voluntary work for English Nature and work with the Dorset Bat Group. I also did 'A' level Zoology and Histology was part of it. So I need to refresh my skills in the area. I don't think I'll go as far a microtome. I may have to get hold of some dyes. Which country is everyone in? I guess my local pharmacy is a starting point for some of the dyes.

Twebster - Why Hydrogen Peroxide? This is a bleach and will get rid of natural colours of the specimens which may be relevant?

I'm trying to learn as much as possible about ecto-parasites of bats and wanted to explore the ecology etc. of these beasties. I thought getting into photographing them would help me and others ID them if I got stuck. There is a lot of scientific work by real top-notch boffins going on but I wnat something more elementary to start with. Some of the mites can be 0.1mm so I think a microscope is going to be a useful tool.

Anyway, I'm reading all sorts of info to prepare slides (Larry Legg) and will start having a play when I get some kit together and then make a move to start the photography.

Thanks all for the input. Keep it coming. Sorry I rambled on a bit.

Phil

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twebster
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Post by twebster »

Hi ya' Phil :D
Twebster - Why Hydrogen Peroxide? This is a bleach and will get rid of natural colours of the specimens which may be relevant?
Ticks and fleas can be very opaque to transmitted light. This is not a problem if you only want to photograph the exterior of the insect. On the other hand, this makes observing/photographing internal structures nearly impossible. Large ticks and fleas need to be sectioned to examine intenal structures.

Small ticks and fleas can be bleached in hydrogen peroxide, fixed, stained, and then mounted in glycerin (which will bleach them a little more). Often this is sufficient to show internal structures without having to resort to sectioning the specimen.

Best regards, :D
Tom Webster
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Phoenix "The Valley of the Sun", Arizona, USA

Think about this...maybe Murphy is an optimist!!!

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