swallowtail butterfly caterpillar

If you're a bug FAN, I'm sure you'll be fascinated by the pictures you see here!

The black circular object above is a spiracle which allows the caterpillars to have oxygen delivered to their body. It can be controlled being opened or closed in order to lead water in or prevent any from entering.

The caterpillar actually has 6 true legs which are located generally near the head area. They also have stumpy legs which are called prolegs. These are located in the abdomen area.  




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Jasmine flower

When you see this flower, you'll probably see a distinction it has with certain types of flowers (other than its white color).

What surprised me when I saw this flower was how small the stigma and anthers are as compared to other flowers. However seen in these pictures are the anthers and stigma that are surrounded by the flower's white petals.

Another interesting fact to know about Jasmine flowers is that they are dicotyledons (one of the groups angiosperms were divided to). They differ in 4 parts: leaves, stems, roots, and flowers.

An example can be how dicots have taproots and have petals in groups of four or five.

small stone in red beet juice

So when I decided to check out beet juice under the microscope, I realized there was something else along with the color .  .  .  something that seemed to be a stone.

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I am not entirely sure what the rocks are but my best guess is that it is similar to beet sugar that comes from sugar beets. In sugar beets, sugar is formed from photosynthesis and is then stored in the roots.

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Beets are the taproot portion of the plant which is why I think there is a possibility these "stones" are actually the sugars of the beet since they are located in similar locations as the sugars in the sugar beets!

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If any of you guys have any other ideas, please comment them down below!!

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What is Bacillus subtilis natto?

http://j-nattokinase.org/en/jnka_nattou_02.html

I know I already created a post about nattos and the benefits in the fermented soybeans. But this time, I wanted to focus more on the probiotics in the nattos as well.

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There are various types of probiotics but this one is specifically called Bacillus subtilis which is left to ferment in the soybeans to create the nattos. They are known for benefiting the body in many ways including: improving symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, fighting cancer, treating gastrointestinal conditions, and much more!

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What fascinated me was how they seemed to be more energetic when placed in a lower pH condition. When I placed them in vinegar, they became more active which made me realize they are able to resist the gastric juice (stomach acid) and enter the intestinal area without a problem!

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Jasmine white flower petal

So here I was thinking I would be able to still see color despite the petal being so white . . . I was wrong.

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When I first observed the petal, I wasn't able to see much because the petal's pigment was white. I tried staining the petal as well (seen on the pictures) but it still didn't work well.

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 I was fascinated by this and I realized why these petals didn't conduct photosynthesis: There weren't any chloroplasts!! Just so there isn't any confusion, there is a significant difference between leaves and petals. Leaves are green and are meant for photosynthesis while petals are meant for attracting insects with their bright colors. All the petals on a flower form a corolla.

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butterfly's feet

*So again like my fly post, if you're a bug phobic person, it is best advised you don't go too deep into this post!*

So I know when you first see this, you would probably wonder why in the world a butterfly may have such hairy feet (other than to latch onto surfaces). Believe it or not . . . they have a special receptor here which our tongues are famous for: taste receptors!!

Generally, the butterflies (especially females) would drum their feet in order for the plant to release its juices. Female butterflies also have chemo-receptors which allow them to find the right match of plant chemicals for them to lay their eggs on. 

Butterflies also use the hairs on their feet as brushes to clean their eyes which fascinates me because of how multi-functional the small hair structures are!

first leaf from red beet root

Even though I knew a beet was quite red, I didn't expect the first leaf to also show red pigments.

The leaf seen here is the cotyledon of the beet.

Cotyledons generally contain food reserves from the seed and usually begin photosynthesis when the reserve runs out.

One interesting realization from seeing it up close was how moist the surface seemed as compared to most leaves. It interested me how the starting leaf seemed to show not only the pigment of the plant, but also seemed to openly show the water in the cells.

onion black fungi

So I decided to try and grow an onion I had at home by putting it in water. Not only did roots grow out of the onion, but something else also grew in the water...

On the outer onion peel, there were black specks of mold which actually began colonizing after being in water for a while! A mold sometimes seen on onions is Aspergillus niger which can present spoilage on the vegetable when infecting it.

butterfly's green dung

When I first saw this color, it didn't completely take me off guard because I saw it in other organisms are well.

What I noticed about the insect was that it didn't absorb all the pigments in the food it consumed. It reminded me of snails because like the butterfly, snails also excrete the colors of the food they consumed such as the orange color of carrots or green colors of lettuce. However, even though I had already been able to view this earlier, it was still a fascinating fact to find.

grape juice turns out...

I decided to leave my grape juice outside for a while and realized . . . it no longer seemed like grape juice . . . 

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When I took a look under the microscope, I realized there were organisms thriving inside the juice. The picture underneath seemed to show either paramecium or a specific yeast known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae which is commonly seen in wine.

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As I saw this, I realized these microbes were likely not dangerous because by leaving the grape juice outside, I was actually fermenting the drink to wine. Wine generally has a variety of different microbes in them including the Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

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After investigating further, I was confirmed that these were likely microbes normally existing in wine. Microbes such as the Saccharomyces cerevisiae convert sugars into alcohol (also commonly seen in beer and distilled beverages).

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So next time you take a drink of a fermented beverage, just remember the hidden organisms that allowed the drink to exist!

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origin of drosophila

*Warning: If you are not a bug fan . . . this might not be the best post for you*

You have been warned!

Yes it is what you think it is. The pictures shown are the membranous wings of a fly! Generally, flies have 2 wings unlike most of the insects which have 4. They are able to beat about 200 times per second!

What I noticed while studying the fly was how it was covered with hair. Generally the hairs are used for sensing objects or air pressure (which the hairs on the wings are known to function for). 

See? Told you it's not meant for people with bug phobia! It turns out, the picture seen at the bottom is the mouth of the fly!! There's always that question of how flies are able to consume solid food and the answer to that is they vomit their stomach acid onto the food and when it is completely broken down, the fly then consumes the created liquid.

To also answer the long pondering question of how flies are able to climb walls, the legs seen on the top picture actually contain numerous bristles which posses a claw like function that latches onto irregular/rough surfaces! Some insects can also hold onto smooth surfaces using adhesion located on the arolia/pulvilli (sticky pads).

good probiotics with water and vinegar

I decided to check out whether or not probiotics could survive under low pH because before entering the small intestine because there is a barrier beforehand that prevents many bacteria from surviving: the stomach acid.

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What I assumed was though there are a lot of probiotics, most would probably not be able to survive in stomach acid, which ranges from 1.5 to 3.5 pH level. When the probiotics were directly exposed to the vinegar (acidic level), some became inactive from the acidic level but others were surprisingly able to survive.

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Have you ever heard of the enteric coated capsules with probiotics in them? Well it turns out, those are meant to be a shield protecting the probiotics from the acid until they reach the small intestine! I had once tested with a 90 billion probiotic capsule and sure enough, it was able to resist human body temperature stomach acid for a long time!

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So in the end, some probiotics and a majority of the bacteria aren't able to survive under low pH levels. How are we able to still allow the certain probiotics to pass through the stomach acid? 

There are various methods such as mixing probiotics with water before consuming since the stomach only keeps liquids in it for about 15 minutes while foods are kept for at least an hour (it is best that this is done when the stomach is empty because there will be less acid and enzymes).
BUT WAIT! There's more!

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While this may be the case for some probiotics, not all probiotics will die under low pH! In fact, they almost prefer it over higher pH levels! For instance, natto probiotics became more active when introduced to this environment showing why some probiotics are truly able to aid the human body in digestion and immune system even when they don't have a capsule protecting them!

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