View Full Version : Want to see something possibly interesting? WARNING: don't enter if you don't like bugs.... :P
missyburd
20-11-08, 05:15 PM
I hereby give you a bit of an insight into my dissertation :D These are sandhoppers that live in the beach sediment. My diss is on Oystercatchers but am looking at these little critters which the birds are feeding on.
NOTE: I did warn you!
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/5259/pb187484ka0.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2355/pb187485rc2.jpg
I've been looking at them for so long now I'm actually beginning to think they're cute :shock: Worrying eh?
I've been identifying about 200 and a lot more to come! Two species present here, slight differences being in appendages (legs) and antennae. Painstaking but also quite fun :-D
_Stretchie_
20-11-08, 05:16 PM
You can get a cream for that....
almost looks like a prawn.
Mr Speirs
20-11-08, 05:18 PM
In the words of Cleveland.
That's Naaaasssty
the_lone_wolf
20-11-08, 05:24 PM
give ya'a tenner to eat one...;)
missyburd
20-11-08, 05:27 PM
almost looks like a prawn.
yeah they're crustaceans and in the same order but prawns are decapods (5 pairs of legs) whereas these are amphipods (7 pairs).
Stretchie why would I want a cream?
Mr Speirs
20-11-08, 05:28 PM
What you studying Miss YC? Fine quisine?
the_lone_wolf
20-11-08, 05:29 PM
Stretchie why would I want a cream?
:smt044:smt044:smt044
missyburd
20-11-08, 05:29 PM
What you studying Miss YC? Fine quisine?
Erm I don't think you'd want to eat these :-P They wouldn't fill you up for one thing!
Zoology.
missyburd
20-11-08, 05:30 PM
:smt044:smt044:smt044
Lol, they ain't lice/crabs :-P huge difference :smt019
bah seen nastier bugs than that when youve had a hornet chase you then nothing much scares afterwards.
Oh! Gammarus!
In the world of fly fishing we make pretendy ones!
The fish love 'em!
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/angling/flies/shrimp/greenbag.gif
_Stretchie_
20-11-08, 09:48 PM
Stretchie why would I want a cream?
I don't know love.. WHY WOULD YOU??
I'm sorry, I'm a naughty boy
bah seen nastier bugs than that when youve had a hornet chase you then nothing much scares afterwards.
Yeah, them Hondas are awful
I don't know love.. WHY WOULD YOU??
I'm sorry, I'm a naughty boy
Yeah, them Hondas are awful
they sound the same yeah :D
missyburd
20-11-08, 09:53 PM
Oh! Gammarus!
Almost, Gammarus are shrimps. Gammaritidae is the sandhopper family and Talitrus saltator is the one in the pic :p (do I sound like a geek yet? LOL)
Here's a live one - the ones in my pictures are pickled ;)
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/d/d9/250px-Talitrus_saltator_2a.jpg
madness
20-11-08, 09:53 PM
As bugs go they're fairly tame.
missyburd
20-11-08, 09:55 PM
I still get a lot of "ewwwwww"s and "yuk"s when people look at them though. They've just got a lot of legs which a few people don't like ;)
madness
20-11-08, 09:58 PM
I still get a lot of "ewwwwww"s and "yuk"s when people look at them though;)
Are these "ewwwwwww"s and "yuk"s from lassies or lads?
missyburd
20-11-08, 09:59 PM
Are these "ewwwwwww"s and "yuk"s from lassies or lads?
mostly lasses admittedly :D
we had a tropical fresh water shrimp in our fish tank hitched a ride in some plants we bought really busy little guy he was kept the tank really clear of debris and stuff champ.
madness
20-11-08, 10:01 PM
I'm not keen on spiders, my sis' had a tarrantula and there was no way I'd get within ten feet of it!
the_lone_wolf
20-11-08, 10:03 PM
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cMO8Pyi3UpY
madness
20-11-08, 10:05 PM
Blantant and cruel exploitation of crustations!
(Excuse the spelling!)
missyburd
20-11-08, 10:07 PM
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cMO8Pyi3UpY
:lol:
ArtyLady
20-11-08, 10:49 PM
almost looks like a prawn.
Or lice, that's why I don't eat prawns.....yukk!!
missyburd
20-11-08, 11:04 PM
Blantant and cruel exploitation of crustations!
(Excuse the spelling!)
erm these crustaceans ;) are in their millions just on the bit of beach I sampled them from, they only live for 18 months anyway, I just happened to get in there first before the birds did.
I guess you wouldn't want to know about the dogfish and shore crab I had to dissect last year then.....oh and the mouse, garden snail and lugworm....sorry have I said too much? ;)
startrek.steve
21-11-08, 08:45 AM
Do they itch?
madness
21-11-08, 11:21 AM
Do they itch?
What like Crabs! ;)
Used to see the little blighters on the beaches where I grew up (NZ).... jump around a lot. Harmless little guys - birds love 'em.
missyburd
21-11-08, 11:54 AM
Used to see the little blighters on the beaches where I grew up (NZ).... jump around a lot. Harmless little guys - birds love 'em.
Yep they're a pain to capture, have to sedate them with alcohol first, little critters have never had it so good! :lol:
Yep they're a pain to capture, have to sedate them with alcohol first, little critters have never had it so good! :lol:
:D
Miss Alpinestarhero
21-11-08, 01:50 PM
Yep they're a pain to capture, have to sedate them with alcohol first, little critters have never had it so good! :lol:
LOL @ alcohol sedation. Can just imagine you serving them all beer in a mini bug bar :lol:
Moving on..so what exactly are you looking at with regards to oystercatchers? their diet? whats the relation between analysing 200 or so of these bugs and oystercatchers? Im genuinely interested :smt003
Ceri JC
21-11-08, 02:07 PM
He he, mad little things. They get confused at night if you light a fire on the beach and end up hopping into the flames. :)
thedonal
21-11-08, 02:25 PM
almost looks like a prawn.
indeed.
This is a U rated forum- we don't want prawnography on here thanks!
missyburd
21-11-08, 02:33 PM
He he, mad little things. They get confused at night if you light a fire on the beach and end up hopping into the flames. :)
Hehe yeah, this species in particular is known to orientate itself on the shore according to the position of the sun, a "sun compass" its called.
indeed.
This is a U rated forum- we don't want prawnography on here thanks!
LOL!
MissA* : I've been observing oystercatcher feeding bahaviour at high tide on the beach, it seems they feed at certain places but it wasn't clear as to what exactly was the prey. Oystercatchers have a varied diet, best known for eating cockles and mussels but also little worms and small shellfish. However, there isn't much in the literature about feeding on Sandhoppers. Originally I didn't know what it was they were feeding on, but as there's bugger all they could be feeding on - as they are all thats present in my samples - then thats what I'm concentrating my study on.
I wasn't originally intending to look at exact diet, just feeding behaviour, habits and communication between flocks, but there seems to be more data to be found in this particular area :rolleyes: I'm enjoying it though, just a tad tedious as mentioned.
Hope I haven't bored you too much there, you can all wake up now :smt003
Miss Alpinestarhero
21-11-08, 02:43 PM
Nope you havent bored us, sounds like a kewl project :smt003
Maria
Yep they're a pain to capture, have to sedate them with alcohol first, little critters have never had it so good! :lol:
What a waste of alcohol :(
;)
missyburd
21-11-08, 06:46 PM
What a waste of alcohol :(
;)
70% ethanol? That do for ya? wouldn't take much ;)
Haha sounds quite harsh..
If its that kinda alcohol were talking about..
Think i leave it.. :)
70% ethanol? That do for ya? wouldn't take much ;)
OOO I could run my sv on that!!!:smt115
Jan and I think that wot your doing is dead interesting and could listen to you for ages.Jan has taken some pics of some god awful looking hedge hog ticks that she plucked off of our dogs, will get her to dig out the pics( she put them on her storage hard drive thingy)and post them on here!!!
missyburd
02-12-08, 08:45 PM
OOO I could run my sv on that!!!:smt115
Jan and I think that wot your doing is dead interesting and could listen to you for ages.Jan has taken some pics of some god awful looking hedge hog ticks that she plucked off of our dogs, will get her to dig out the pics( she put them on her storage hard drive thingy)and post them on here!!!
Aww budding parasitologists, thats what this world needs!!!! :-D
Ticks are vile creatures, I remember we took a load off a hedgehog when I worked at RSPCA, all the staff came in saying "Ooooh I wanna go"...they find it great fun popping them under paper towels, apparently its very satisfying LOL! The only problem with when they asked me to go down to Sainsbury's and buy the largest pot of Vaseline I could find...just Vaseline, thankfully they only had the little pots, saved me a bit of embarassment hehe. Did you use Vaseline? It suffocates the ticks when you smother them with it and hence makes them drop off.
Aww budding parasitologists, thats what this world needs!!!! :-D
Ticks are vile creatures, I remember we took a load off a hedgehog when I worked at RSPCA, all the staff came in saying "Ooooh I wanna go"...they find it great fun popping them under paper towels, apparently its very satisfying LOL! The only problem with when they asked me to go down to Sainsbury's and buy the largest pot of Vaseline I could find...just Vaseline, thankfully they only had the little pots, saved me a bit of embarassment hehe. Did you use Vaseline? It suffocates the ticks when you smother them with it and hence makes them drop off.
urggh:puker:
No Jan dunked the little blighters in a glass of strong bleachy water, that would sort any thing out Lol.
We also had a sheep tick on our old dog, that was huge!!
missyburd
02-12-08, 09:03 PM
Were the hedgehog ticks blue?
urggh:puker:
Lol uuuurgh at me having to buy vaseline or uuugh at the tick-squashing? :-P
Were the hedgehog ticks blue?
Lol uuuurgh at me having to buy vaseline or uuugh at the tick-squashing? :-P
the whole thing :D
The hedgehog ticks started off as an off white colour and very tiny, then as they start to suck blood they turned blue.
The hedgehog ticks started off as an off white colour and very tiny, then as they start to suck blood they turned blue.
:sick::puker::pale:
missyburd
03-12-08, 11:31 AM
:sick::puker::pale:
Me thinks you should unsubscribe from this thread, you don't seem to be liking it much :p
EDIT: I just realised that sounds like I'm kicking you out, I wasn't!!! Do come back even if it makes you feel ill! :-D
When we first got honey from the pound she had a gut full of round worms, a drop of the correct medication and she upchucked a load it just looked like spaghetti. I put them in a glass and had a good old peer at them, wish I'd had a microscope!!!Jan and I find all this sort of thing fascinating!!
missyburd
03-12-08, 01:05 PM
When we first got honey from the pound she had a gut full of round worms, a drop of the correct medication and she upchucked a load it just looked like spaghetti. I put them in a glass and had a good old peer at them, wish I'd had a microscope!!!Jan and I find all this sort of thing fascinating!!
Lol! Roundworms are 'orrid. One of our lecturers - a parasitologist - told us a lovely story about a student who'd had a few too many one night and as roundworms can't cope with the high levels of alcohol they tend to exit through the nearest orifice....so this chap sicked it up and actually put it in a jar to show it to her! Ha, that's commitment LOL.
I've seen a positively foul pic of roundworms in humans, but I will not put it up on here, I'll get told off....
just google Ascaris lol
Dangerous Dave
03-12-08, 01:19 PM
You sure you didn't find them on Chris?
missyburd
03-12-08, 01:35 PM
You sure you didn't find them on Chris?
What roundworms? or ticks? or sandhoppers? Please specify DD honestly :p
Mr Speirs
03-12-08, 01:38 PM
If the answers yes to any of them...
missyburd
03-12-08, 01:40 PM
If the answers yes to any of them...
Hehe, no not yet, I'm not ruling it out though! And if I do I shall be onto it and finding out what it is :takeabow:
Me thinks you should unsubscribe from this thread, you don't seem to be liking it much :p
EDIT: I just realised that sounds like I'm kicking you out, I wasn't!!! Do come back even if it makes you feel ill! :-D
ha they dont bother me that much :-D mind you they are bloody annoying:mad:
missyburd
13-12-08, 01:33 AM
Just for you Stevie :p
Pectanogammarus
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/2484/pc127853us4.jpg
Mite of some sort
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3553/pc127855hl1.jpg
Random beetle
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/4749/pc127856sw8.jpg
My largest sandhopper
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3/pc127860vs8.jpg
Oh and this is one that accidentally got cooked in the oven when I was baking sediments lol
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4512/pc127867lv0.jpg
If there are are any insect experts out there feel free to help me identify the mite and beetle :p
the light brown one looks like a animal tick too me im no expert mind.
missyburd
13-12-08, 01:16 PM
yeah, its possible. Lots of dogs on the beach. However he was alive before I pickled him so tis likely he was living buried in the sand, but I have no idea so have to hunt about searching for lookalikes lol.
:smt115 Lots of insect experts on a wildlife forum I'm on #tootles off in that direction#
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