MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Thanks everyone, so nice to get feedback.
Viktor - I tried to answer your question in a new post:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=14071

In a recent post: https://www.microbehunter.com/microscopy-forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=14059 Viktor asked about combining both for small flies. KOH is more of a cleaning agent than a clearing agent. It dissolves cellular contents with little effect on chitinised structures. Such cleaning does result ...

I have an Olympus phase contrast (BH2-PC) for my BH2/BHS scope; works well but never used! Because I also have an Olympus DIC setup (BH2-NIC) for the same scope which I think gives better results than the phase; also a lot easier to use. The BHS with the brighter light (100watt?) is a better option ...

A small centipede was collected, into methanol, from litter in a white pine forest using a Berlese funnel. It was placed into cedarwood oil until it became more-or-less translucent. Its fangs were removed and mounted in Euparal. I was interested in the musculature of the fangs The most usual techniq...

Thanks Tom If you have not tried such an extraction I think you will surprised by the number and variety of organisms in just 1 liter of old litter. Even small delicate organisms, such as Springtails, survive the extraction and mounting without damage. Here is a small nematocera fly that went direct...

Small arthropods such as insects and mites can be made into permanent slides very quickly. Perhaps the most difficult part is to actually collect them! I am thinking of the microscopic species, say 2 mm or less. A Berlese funnel or something similar: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artmay21/ca-B...

Quite a bit of discussion on a mite from a funnel extraction
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13967

John, Thanks for finding all that info. Non-sensillary indicates not a sense organ. However, they must have an important function whatever it is. I took an image with my Olympus 100x Oil Splan +1.25x intermediate tube + 2.5x projection eyepiece on my BH2; saw more detail, seems a good subject for a ...

Thanks for the comments, a couple more images:
top: head end taken with a 60x Nikon MPlan objective
bottom: close-up of the region level with the eye.
The black dots appear to be highly modified hairs, pyramidical with a few longitudinal spikey ridges; similar structures on the legs but more elongated

Checking on BugGuide this appears to be a Long-legged Velvet Mite. Extracted from leaf litter below Oak trees. Mounted dry. Top image shows the entire mite; middle image is @ 20x; 3rd image is a crop fromn image 2, This mite appears to have only 2 hairs, in the dorsal central part of the body which ...

It has been about a week since I made the Springtail slide, looked at it today - absolutely no shrinkage.
I made a similar mount for this ant from the same funnel extraction (100% methanol, direct mount into Euparal).
This is a 'hard-bodied ant', not surprising that there is no shrinkage:

2 very useful features: - mirrorless, expensive; or the ability to temporarily 'disconnect' the mirror from the shutter. That is, mirror moves up and a second or two later the shutter opens; method removes any vibration from mirror movement. - Live View. My camera connects to a TV via a HTML cable. ...

Bob, I like to use absolute alcohol. I can't obtain ethyl; I can get 99% Isopropyl from the drug store (chemists), but quite expensive. 100% methanol is available from a hardware store for a much lower price. The beauty of using Euparal is that one can mount directly from absolute alcohol. I have re...

Christian Autotte showed a simple Berlese Funnel in Micscape Magazine: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artmay21/ca-Berleze.pdf This was based on my more "professional" model. Such a funnel is incredibly efficaceous for extracting organisms from ground litter. In early October, 2021, I collected ...

A very difficult subject to make a permanent mount. First problem is to get the Paramecium to stick to the slide or coverslip. Standard practice is to mount them on a coverslip, but easier to handle when mounted on a slide. Mix equal parts of egg white and distilled water, shake well and filter. App...

I have a BH2/BHS that I can supply with several options including DIC.
Willing to ship to Vancouver ( I'm in Canada); not elsewhere!

Use Canada Balsam for permanent mounting. Available from Quebec, excellent product:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/252737715113?ha ... xycmBS3Yut

From my recent FW sample, found dead. Looks like the remains of the Amoeba inside. Photographed with the ventral opening uppermost.
Seems the test was made of sand grains.
left: 40x +1.25x + 2.5x transmitted light
right: 20x +1.25x + 2.5x polarized light; I could not enough light to use the 40x.

The snow finally left the flower garden and I was able to rake off the old leaves and moss. Took a small sample of moss and placed it in my Berlese funnel. Extracted several mites, a beetle, 2 wasps, and 4 springtails.
Here is the largest springtail (Collembola):

Found several other midge larvae in my water sample. Selected out this guy, the smallest. Small enough to get an entire image.
Olympus BHS, 10x Splan (+1.25x +2.5x)

In my recent FW sample.
Related to the more common Calanoid Copepod which have a broad front end; these guys are tapered. Moved during exposures
Body length 0.86 mm
Olympus BHS 10x SPlan Apo. Polarized light to show musculature.

is the common name for a freshwater Ostracod (a Crustacean). They have a bivalve shell and look like swimming clams. This one in my recent sample, unfortunately I pressed too hard on the coverslip and the lower valve cracked (they are delicate). Note the colony of Vorticella (?} at one end. Length 0...

dtsh: this was a live larva.
I use a plain slide, put 4 spots of vaseline where the corners of the coverslip will go.
Add a drop of pond water, look for 'bugs', gently press down on the coverslip so that the selected bug is trapped.

It's just you!

I have been trying several techniques to get cross-sections of plant stems including 'hand' cutting with the double razor blade, using a hand microtome fitted to a bench with the plant held by a foam plug and with the plant embedded in paraffin wax and using a cutting aid. All techniques gave incons...

Found this little fella in recent freshwater sample from a local ditch. Only 2.3 mm long, photographed with ventral side up to show the mouthparts Oly Splan with 1.25x intermediate tube + 2.5x photo tube Top: BF 20x objective #2 : Polarized light to show jaw muscles , blue, in head capsule #3: BF 40...

In a previous post I suggested a mosquito wing was a good subject to test the resolving power of a 40x objective. Others though that a diatom was a better subject Found this live diatom in a freshwater ditch. Imaged in BF and DIC This was the largest diatom so far found, dozens of much smaller diato...

I made a comparison plate for the cheek cell images using the same processing for each.
Very impressive result from the Amscope, slightly larger halo from the Amscope otherwise a better image than the Olympus.

for the very 1st one I made a wax block with the petiole inside. I trimmed the to be a little wider in diameter than the petiole. Mounted it vertically in the cylinder of the microtome and filled the remaining space with liquid wax. I had already coated the inside of the cylinder with a thin layer o...

Human cheek cells are somewhat of a standard subject for testing phase contrast. I am interested to know how the affordable Amscope set compares with Olympus; the condenser alone is an outrageous $1,205.00: https://spectraservices.com/product/6-lp151a.html here is a cheek cell image at 40x with the ...