Apis dorsata is a giant honey bee. Tribals use this species for honey and beewax collection. Apis dorsata is also the natural host of the Tropilaelaps mite, a devastating parasite with an expanding distribution.
Tag: #sd@foldscopechandigarh
Trichogrammatoidea armigera under foldscope
A new dimorphic egg parasite. Targeted against Helicoverpa armigera Systematic position-Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae. Thanks to Dr. Y. Lalitha
Foldscope as an Educational and Teaching Tool-Histology slides of Spleen
To study the histology of Spleen- A Secondary lymphoid organ observed by students in class activity Spleen is a large, ovoid, secondary lymphoid organ situated high in the left abdominal cavity. Spleen performs the function of filtering blood and traps the blood borne antigens. Blood borne antigens and lymphocytes are carried into the spleen through…
GGDSD Foldscope Team @Japanese garden
On the 2nd – Day of the workshop on Foldscope @GGDSD College, Chandigarh, a visit to Japanese Garden, Chandigarh was organized on 10th October, 2018. The garden spreads over an area of 13 acres and has been developed in two phases. An underground 100-foot-long tunnel connects the two phases of the garden.The garden has unique features…
Sectioning ovary of a wild mallow flower
Transverse section of ovary of a wild mallow flower was sliced and observed under foldscope. The ovules with their outer integuments were clearly visible. The inner parenchymatous portion of the ovule was really amazing. The ovary wall was seen to have presence of protective hair on the outside. This post is open to…
Observing pollen @ Foldscope workshop
I am Shivam and from GGDSD College. This is my first view of an object seen through a foldscope.
Trichomes of a wild leaf with purple margins
A wild member of Malvaceae family growing along roadside in Chandigarh was plucked for Foldscope explorations. It is a wild woody shrub with leaves having serrated, purple margins and veins. Foldscopy of the epidermal peel of the leaf revealed presence of stellate trichomes and glandular hairs. This post is open to read and review…
Pollen of different size under foldscope
What is the reason behind pollen of different size ? In my slide I could see one pollen smaller and other larger under a foldscope. This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
My first Foldscope post
Hi. I am Varsha, a 1st Semester student @GGDSD, Chandigarh. I would like to share my experiences of Foldscope workshop @GGDSD, College. Working with microscope was always a problem with me as i wear spectacles. The teacher would focus a slide on it and when my turn came, i would take them off and adjust…
Foldscoping in Japanese Garden, Chandigarh (India)
On the second day of the workshop, the participants were taken for a visit to Japanese Garden which is at a distance of 1 Km from the GGDSD College, Chandigarh. The garden has a lot of unique evergreen plants and has a serene environment for morning walkers and nature lovers. The layout of the…
Two day workshop on Foldscope @ GGDSD College
We are indebted to students for their efforts and inputs to the foldscope training workshop to make it happen just after finishing their mid semester exams, and dispersing for a short break. In the series of workshops conducted under foldscope project, A two day workshop was held @ GGDSD College Chandigarh on 9th – 10th…
Heartbeat of Zebra fish recorded under foldscope
Zebra fish (Danio rerio) has been emerged as one of the latest “models” for vertebrate embryological development studies. It offers advantages over traditional mammalian models as it has transparent body which is helpful in tracking down of drugs and can easily be monitored under foldscope. Heartbeat of the normal Zebra fish embryo (a week old)…
Amazing explorations of a flowering weed on my rooftop
A weed was seen growing on my rooftop. It was a succulent plant with linear leaves. All the flowers except one had fertilized giving rise to seeds. The single flower that was seen had not opened up. It was deep pink and I teased it to observe its pollen under foldscope. The seeds were small…
Fibers from Nature -5 (seed dispersal fibers)
The more we explore, the more fascinating things are revealed. The fibers seen in a weed could be so amazing and strongly woven is beyond imagination. Foldscopy of a weed with its seed entangled in a tuft of cottony fibres is wonderful. Probably the fibers aid in seed dispersal. The details of this exploration…
Foldscopy of epidermal peel of Delonix leaflet
Delonix belongs to fabaceae and is a tree of great economic importance. Leaves of Delonix tree are bipinnately compound. Each leaf bears 10-25 pairs of pinnae and each pinna bears oppositely arranged leaflets. Epidermal peel of a leaflet was observed under foldscope.
Pollen of Night Jasmine
Har singhaar or Night jasmine belongs to family Oleaceae (Jasmine family) It was one of the plants observed on my visit to P.N Mehra Botanical garden at Panjab University, Chandigarh. It is a medicinal shrub or a small tree. The sweet scented flowers are small, attractive with white petals and an orange-red tube in center,…
Trichomes and Stomata of Nyctanthes leaf under foldscope
Nyctanthes plant has quadrangular stem bearing simple leaves that are ovate in shape with serrated margins. The surface is rough and glabrous. 2 types of hairs – Unicellular trichomes and glandular hairs situated in slight depressions in leaves were noticed in the epidermal peel. Anomocytic stomata were also clearly visible under foldscope. This post…
Immunology Class Activity
After attending workshops on foldscopy, students have started enjoying using foldscope as a tool for their routine microbiological work. A class activity was organized to observe histology of various lymphoid organs. It was organized in a small group to make it more interactive session. They have observed primary and secondary lymphoid organs and recorded their…
Reticulate venation in a dicot leaf
Presence of reticulate venation is an important diagnostic feature of a dicot leaf. The veins form an interconnecting network spread across the lamina. It was fascinating to observe the networking of veins under foldscope. This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Pollen grains of a Cucurbit seen through foldscope
Pollen grains of a Cucurbia flower seen through foldscope This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Epidermal peel of a Cucurbit showing stomata
A Cucurbit leaf was peeled to observe its stomata under foldscope. No subsidiary cells could be observed. Are the stomata of Anomocytic type ? This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Infected leaves of Holy Basil
Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum), is a short lived perennial plant belonging to family Lamiaceae. Its leaves are medicinally important and used as a fresh or dried herb. A diseased leaf was spotted on the Tulsi plant growing in my terrace. I plucked the leaf and saw its tips had turned necrotic. On magnifying I could…
Pollen of Gulmohur flower
Gulmohar is a very popular roadside tree of my city beautiful – Chandigarh with its graceful foliage and beautiful flowers. Delonix regia belongs to Caesalpinioideae of family Fabaceae. It is also called flame tree because of its clusters of flame-red flowers found in typical racemes. The tree is medicinally important and also an inspiration to…
Are these galls ?
The root nodules isolated from smaller plants were clearly visible ( as shown in previous post). But some plants that were having thick and robust roots showed prolific growth. Are these galls or root knots ? I am unable to describe. On gentle teasing, followed by staining with methylene blue, I was able to…
Root nodules isolated from bean plant
The bean plants in my kitchen garden wilted out. So I uprooted them to give place to new plants. But as I took out the plants, I could see numerous nodules on the lateral roots. I collected the nodules for detailed study. I cut free hand sections of a nodule attached to root and stained…
Trichomes in Tulsi leaf
Simple, multicellular and uniseriate trichomes were observed in crushed Tulsi leaf. The trichomes had a pointed tip and were embedded within.
Fibers from nature -4 (Amazing Weaving seen on Tulsi leaf)
I visited my friends’ place last Sunday. There I saw some wooly growth on leaves of tulsi. I plucked the leaves and brought them home to see the wooly thing under foldscope. I was surprised to observe silk like fibres strongly entangled in a criss-cross manner. I pierced through the wooly growth and I was…