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SEM Photographs |
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Photographs are the property of G.J.McKenzie and may not be used for commercial purposes without my prior permission.
These photographs have been taken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This has allowed a much greater depth of field than would be possible with a normal camera and macro lens. The woodlice have been dried and then coated with a thin layer of gold before being placed in the scanning electron microscope. The high vacuum in the SEM has caused some slight damage to the specimen in the first photograph (the darker shading on the right hand side has been caused by the partial collapse of the carapace.
The approximate magnification is given below each photograph. Click on photographs to get an enlarged view.
 50x |
1. | Dorsal view of head and first thoracic segment. Notice the "three lobed head" structure which identifies this as being Porcellio scaber. The right hand lobe has been damaged during preparation. |
 50x |
2. | Lateral view of head showing antenna and compound eye. The maxillipeds are visible on the lower surface of the head. |
 50x |
3. | Ventral view of head showing maxillipeds (the large mouth part structures) and base of antennae. |
 1000x |
4. | Tip of antenna. |
 200x |
5. |
Lateral view of compound eye
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 200x |
6. | Dorsal view of compound eye, made of 22 simple eyes (ocelli) |
 50x |
7. | Dorsal view of plates (tergites) in the thoracic region. The overlapping structure of these plates gives flexibility. |
 2000x |
8. | Dorsal view of surface of the carapace of thorax - this appears to show some wax like fibres, suggesting that woodlice do have a very thin waxy cuticle. |
 50x |
9. | Ventral view showing the uropods (tail like
structures), the inner pair are called endopods and the outer pair are
called exopods. The plate like structures directly above the uropods are the pleopods - the fartherest pair of pleopods )not visible here) contain the primitive lungs. |
 200x |
10. |
Tip of pereopod (leg)
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Photographs are the property of G.J.McKenzie and may not be used for commercial purposes without my prior permission.
