Insect Pictures

  2005 NSF Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program

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By looking at the scale bar inside of this SEM image, you can see that the body of this insect is approximately 1mm in size.  The magnification for this image is 25x, as is indicated at the bottom of the picture near the center.  Note that the insect is found in bits and pieces, sticking to the carbon tape, which is the material in background containing holes.

 

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This image is “zoomed in” ten times more than the previous image; we are now at a magnification of 250x.  At this magnification, one can clearly see the insect’s compound eye.

 

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At a magnification of 2500x, you can now see some hair-like structures found within the insect’s eye.  Each small part of the eye is about 10 microns in size, which is about 1/6th the width of a human hair.

 

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Two tiny grains of pollen become visible on the insect’s eye at a magnification of 25000x.  Each of these pollen grains is about 0.2 microns in size.

 

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A view ten times closer than the previous brings us to a level where a pollen grain’s structure becomes quite clear.  The magnification level for this picture is an amazing 250,000x!