Javier Canteros

<p>
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  <img alt="image" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-12153 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="12153" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}' data-image-title="image" data-recalc-dims="1" height="300" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_12151/image5.jpeg" width="190"/>
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 I’m not sure what this is, but it seems like an arthropod. While I was waiting my Foldscope to arrive to Argentina, I prepared a small pond water container with some decaying algae, copepods and water fleas.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left">
 The first image is a stalk of 3 pictures taken with the Foldscope. The creature shown was less than half a millimeter. The second picture is the same animal shot with a regular macro lens for smartphone.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left">
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  <img alt="image" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-12152 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="12152" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 6","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1452963742","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.15","iso":"32","shutter_speed":"0.00080906148867314","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="image" data-recalc-dims="1" height="169" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_12151/image4.jpeg" width="300"/>
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<p style="text-align: left">
 I would be very happy if anyone has a guess what this little guy is! It’ll make my day 😀.
</p>


First shot with Foldscope

<p>
 The following images will make your head itch. If you are wondering what they show, let me tell you I have two kids and we live in Argentina (we’re in summer now). Yes! Lice! Never before I thought a louse would be a source of gratification for me. And that’s only because of Foldscope. Have a look.
</p>
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<p>
 Two lice have been filmed in this video: one female adult (from 1:19 to 2:01) and one nymph (rest of the video). I used the low mag lens and an iPhone 6 to record them.
</p>
<p>
 It’s absolutely amazing the details Foldscope is able to resolve. From 1:07 to 2:16, we can see the inner parts of the abdomen with its digestive tube filled with my son’s blood. From 1:28 to 2:00, the two gonopods are seen in the dark shape of a
 <strong>
  }
 </strong>
 at the end of the abdomen. Two legs terminating with a single claw and opposing “thumb” the louse uses to grasps the hair of its host are seen between 2:18 and 2:41. Just after that until 2:55 and in the featured image of this post, we can clearly see the trachea –the air-pipes used by insects for respiration. And in the last part of the video, we go back to the mesmerizing movements of the digestive system.
</p>
<p>
 If you enjoyed it as much as I did, maybe you would like to watch the raw images I used to edit the video:
</p>
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  <iframe allowfullscreen="true" class="youtube-player" height="563" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLFYmIVrohWtBxiEjYCFBdIXxjNeeO7dvP&amp;hl=en_US" style="border:0;" type="text/html" width="1000">
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Itchy exploration

<p>
 This is a mite – probably a larva belonging to the Erythraeidae family. I picked it up from a harvestman (Acanthopachylus aculeatus,
 <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BB3otYDJ4fx/" target="_blank">
  image here
 </a>
 ) the mite was parasitizing. I’d rather have used glass slides and coverslips but couldn’t find any here in Uruguay where I am right now.
</p>
<p>
 <a alt="IMG_00131.jpg" class="gcloudimg" href="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_13263/IMG_00131.jpg">
  <img alt="IMG_0013" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-13265 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="13265" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 6","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1455739237","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.15","iso":"32","shutter_speed":"0.0013661202185792","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="IMG_0013" data-recalc-dims="1" height="169" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_13263/IMG_00131.jpg" width="300"/>
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  <img alt="IMG_0018" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-13269 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="13269" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 6","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1455739379","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.15","iso":"32","shutter_speed":"0.00065703022339028","title":"","orientation":"1"}' data-image-title="IMG_0018" data-recalc-dims="1" height="169" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_13263/IMG_0018.jpg" width="300"/>
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 </a>
</p>


A parasitoid mite

<p>
 This post is dedicated to my wife’s good eyesight. She was preparing supper and just as she poured the rice in the pan, she called me: “what are these things in the rice?”
</p>
<p>
 The “things” were so tiny I couldn’t tell what they were with my bare sight. And even after having a better view of them, I didn’t know.
</p>
<figure aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13868" class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_13868" style="width: 600px">
 <a alt="rice.jpg" class="gcloudimg" href="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_13856/rice.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-13868">
  <img alt="booklouse in a grain of rice" class="wp-image-13868 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="13868" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}' data-image-title="rice" data-recalc-dims="1" height="356" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_13856/rice.jpg" width="600"/>
 </a>
 <figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-13868">
  The “thing” was so small I couldn’t tell what it was.
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
 It turned out these bugs were booklice from the Liposcelis genus. Many species of Liposcelis are associated with human habitation and several are well known as pests of stored products –mostly grains.
</p>
<p>
 I kept my infested rice bag so I’ll try to obtain better images of these tiny creatures later on. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a short clip I made from the Liposcelis sp.
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 <p class="winnower-cite-link">
  DOI:
  <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.15200/winn.145764.49136" target="_blank">
   10.15200/winn.145764.49136
  </a>
  provided by
  <a href="https://thewinnower.com">
   The Winnower
  </a>
  , a DIY scholarly publishing platform
 </p>
</p>

Javier Canteros

Earth

Posts

First shot with Foldscope

Itchy exploration

A parasitoid mite

Eating my rice

Locations

Statistics

Type of Sample

Foldscope Lens Magnification