MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

These are the hairs on the leading edge of the wing of a common housefly.
Looks like a narwhal horn, or cirri on a stylonchia.
Wild Heerbrugg M20
100x oil immersion



Enjoy,
Radazz

That's pretty neat, I didn't have any idea they were spiral! I wonder if it would show well in phase contrast.

That spiral form is a surprise, and interesting. Thanks

GaryB wrote:That's pretty neat, I didn't have any idea they were spiral! I wonder if it would show well in phase contrast.

I took the shot above a couple of years ago. I should drag out the Axioskop, it has a 100x infinity oil dipper, but it’s not phase contrast. I find phase contrast just looks like oblique light with thicker specimens.

Here is a hoverfly wing in phase. Interesting, but quite a loss of resolution.

Radazz

I'm sure there are people out there that have devoted their life to insect bristles/hairs but I've never seen much or heard much about that. Any hairs for that matter. For an amateur, with limited lab tools, their opacity presents difficulties. They are more in the province of a stereo microscope object, which in itself presents problems. Has anyone ever heard of them being sectioned? Study with a met microscope might be interesting.

Maybe multicolor Pol might show something if there's any birefringence in there.