This summer I am working with nematodes for a lab technition. I am taking pictures with a microscope of them, and then I have to measure them. That's the hard part, it involves a lot of clicking! The insects were mainly eggs when I left on Friday, and when I get back on Monday they will probally all be adults!
This is somthing I found on the web about them:
Nematodes are the most numerous multicellular animals on earth. A handful of soil will contain thousands of the microscopic worms, many of them parasites of insects, plants or animals. Free-living species are abundant, including nematodes that feed on bacteria, fungi, and other nematodes, yet the vast majority of species encountered are poorly understood biologically. There are nearly 20,000 described species classified in the phylum Nemata .
Nematodes are structurally simple organisms. Adult nematodes are comprised of approximately 1,000 somatic cells, and potentially hundreds of cells associated with the reproductive system . Nematodes have been characterized as a tube within a tube ; referring to the alimentary canal which extends from the mouth on the anterior end, to the anus located near the tail. Nematodes possess digestive, nervous, excretory, and reproductive systems, but lack a discrete circulatory or respiratory system. In size they range from 0.3 mm to over 8 meters.
Provided by the University of Nebraska - Lincoln Nematology webpage.
This is what the eggs look like:
The adult:
Photo credits:
Eggs: Laurence I. Miller
Adult: Christopher Hogger |
