MicrobeHunter.com » insect http://www.microbehunter.com of Microscopy, Microbes and More Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:31:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The Dog Flea (Ctenocephalides canis) http://www.microbehunter.com/2009/02/01/the-dog-flea-ctenocephalides-canis/ http://www.microbehunter.com/2009/02/01/the-dog-flea-ctenocephalides-canis/#comments Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:04:30 +0000 Oliver http://microscopy.okim.info/?p=1088

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The Dog Flea (Ctenocephalides canis) under the microscope
The Dog Flea (Ctenocephalides canis) is an external parasite which can be found in the fur of both dogs and cats.
The Dog Flea (Ctenocephalides canis) under the microscope
A portait image of the flea.


Image Information: The presented image is composed of several different overlapping images stitched together. Stacking to increase the depth of field was not performed.


Background Information: The adult female flea reaches a size between 2 and 4mm. Males are a little smaller, 2-3mm. They are wingless insects with a flattened body. Their chitin exoskeleton is resistant to pressure. Both sexes feed on the host’s blood. The fleas produce eggs out of which the larvae hatch. The larvae are between 1-6mm long (depending on the stage of the life cycle), and do not possess legs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

]]> http://www.microbehunter.com/2009/02/01/the-dog-flea-ctenocephalides-canis/feed/ 0 Head of a Fly http://www.microbehunter.com/2009/01/17/head-of-a-fly/ http://www.microbehunter.com/2009/01/17/head-of-a-fly/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:06:20 +0000 Oliver http://microscopy.okim.info/?p=932
Microscoic image of the head of a fly.
Microscoic image of the head of a fly, several pictures combined to one.

Image Information: Today I started to go through several permanent slides which I borrowed – and the result can be seen on the right. This is the head of Musca domestica, the common house-fly. I took seven overlapping pictures and assembled them with a stitching software (which are commonly used for making panoramas). The pictures were stitched in two dimensions, not every panorama software is able to do this. Many are only able to stitch the images horizontally only. Naturally I also had to do some cleanup work in Photoshop, removing the dirt and dust of the background. The specimen was sufficiently thin, so I did not have to combine the different focus levels into one final sharp image.


Background Information: The house fly is one of the most widely distributed insects and can be a vector for the transmission of a range of different illnesses. An adult female lays about 500 eggs during its lifetime. Maggots hatch within one day. They will feed on decaying organic matter and grow into a fully sized larva. Pupa will form and after metamorphosis the adult flies will emerge. Adult flies are 6-9mm long, and will mate already 36 hours afterwards to complete the life-cycle.

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