It’s really cool how many interesting things can be found in the comfort of your own home. That was the case for my dorm on campus. I first started simple:

Above is the image of a leaf from a store-bought baby bamboo plant. The sample was clipped from the tip of a leaf that was starting to yellow and brown due to lack of sunlight. Under the foldscope, the image looked relatively uniform with the common feature of lined texture (similar to linen) traversing vertically from the top to the bottom of the leaf in view along with small water droplets. These lines most likely correspond to the cell plant walls composing the fibrous structure. Even though at the macro level, the leaf appeared brown, this image appears mostly green.

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This bamboo plant was potted in a mason jar and filled to the brim with water. My roommate had claimed that there were tiny “white worms” darting around, so we had decided to investigate. We collected a sample using the provided pipettes and inspected the droplet placed on the slide to ensure it contained this “white worm”. Microscopically, this animal turned out to not be too lively. Instead, it seems like our sample is a piece of bamboo or plant debris due to the green color. It seems to be composed of two to three microscopic twigs with diameters less than 100 um. Along the surface of these twigs are sharp needle-like attachments. Whether or not this debris is actually “alive” is up to debate as my roommate still claims it to be.

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Finally, these animals were found in the computer cluster hanging from threads and attached to walls. These seem like pupas or empty husks at first glance. However, it turns out these creatures are snail-like worms that are able to produce silk (see below).

Putting one of these animals under the microscope revealed some very interesting anatomical structures.

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The animal itself can easily be seen with the naked eye, so its body could not be entirely captured under the microscope. However, parts of the creature were captured. The leftmost picture is of a claw-like appendage found near the posterior of the animal, which probably allows the animal to grip onto walls and other surfaces. The middle picture shows the texture of its body. The different colors and shadows represents the thickness of the animal (darker towards its middle) and has a rough exoskeleton composing its “husk”. The rightmost picture is of the animal’s posterior. It is bulb-like in appearance but does not have a clear function, as the silk that is produced seems to come from the front, not the back, of the creature. Below, we can see a video of the “organ” in action.

Although it is not clear what these pulsations are, it is possible that this organ may assist in the respiration of the animal.

The lesson learned is that even indoors, there is an incredible world at the microscopic level to observe.

EDIT: Just learned the above species is a type of “bagworm moth”, a species of the family Psychidae. These caterpillars commonly build small protective cases to hide in and are considered pests at time. However, they are incredibly interesting and only adult males ever leave their homemade cases to find mates.