Observations by manup

I was on a holiday in Akumal, Mexico and spent most of it on the tide pools or in the ocean. This is live imaging of a "blue nematode" I found in the ocean next to a rocky shore line - I images this live with a Foldscope (140X). Background sounds are waves hitting the shore. This observation has been a mystery to me for almost a year; and I showed this to several people - but never got an ID. The mystery is the sharp color change from deep blue to brown - so characteristic, that it can't be mistaken. It was also found around "bluish algae" so I had a theory that the color could be symbiotic. Scale bar is 100 um width of the worm. Also visible is the "red" (eye?)spot.

For details and a full video of the live nematode - see Microcosmos post at: https://microcosmos.foldscope.com/?p=7759

I walked out if my house in the morning; and found my entire car (and everyone's car) and the whole street covered with pollen - yes pollen - absolutely everywhere. Here are Foldscope (140x) images of the pollen. It's a mystery to me:

• what plant does this pollen comes from?
• why only one day in the whole year did I end up finding this pollen?
• why so much pollen?

I did some calculations. A surface of a car can have around a billion pollen.

More details on the post at https://microcosmos.foldscope.com/?p=13123

Prof Wallace Marshall collected some stentor from the Golden Gate Park pond and we imaged it together with a Foldscope during a school demonstration. They seemed to be growing well in a culture from the original sample.

Later in the video (on link below) - they seemed to have contracted into a ball. The spiral row of cilia and the symbiotic green algae are evident. The swimming behavior (backing up and turning) are quiet unusual. Also visible is the row of cilia on the surface.

To read the complete post and watch some really fun live movies - please see https://microcosmos.foldscope.com/?p=14231

On my walk in the tidal zone; I noticed a fish (see microcosmos post for details on the fish). I imaged the "fin" of the live fish and found it infected with these parasites all along the fin (I released the fish after imaging). I believe they are Ambiphyra; with a beautiful ciliary band (see videos on microcosmos post for details).

It's fascinating to see a bound ciliate on a fish. For the ciliate it's a fascinating "best of both worlds". It's interesting to note that we just had a discussion on parasites (possibly vorticella) on mosquito larvae by iNat user @damontighe.

See details at: https://microcosmos.foldscope.com/?p=14627

All data collected with a Foldscope (140x) on an iPhone directly in the field.

These are Foldscope images of the larvae of Psyllid species infecting leaves. The images are of the larvae embedded inside the leaves. I have also added the leaves with deformations on the same. Could someone also identify the leaves.

For more data, live videos of the larvae walking and adults - see complete post; see Foldscope microcosmos post at https://microcosmos.foldscope.com/?p=551