SCIENCE INTO IMAGES

The 38th chapter of the “Inhabitants of the microworld” series is called “Living comma”.

Ceratopogonids, also known as “biting midges”, are close relatives to “non-biting midges” (Chironomids) and “black flies” (Simulidae). Adults of many species feed on blood and can be vectors of some diseases. Females lay eggs, with a characteristic shape of “comma”, adhered to the wet surfaces, and larvae spent all their developmental process as aquatic insects.

This is the 38th chapter of a series that will bring to us a video per day during this confinement forced by COVID-19.

We hope that you enjoy this initiative, which gives access to a documentary series for free to the world, and you share it with everyone you think will possibly be interested.

Science into Images’s team.

The 37th chapter of the “Inhabitants of the microworld” series is called “Wheel animals”.

Rotifers are extraordinary animals. Most of them are less than 1 mm long and are characterized by two crowns of cilia whirling around the mouth. This characteristic is the reason for their common name. Although their tiny size they play a fundamental role in the aquatic ecosystems because they act as water filters from where they extract particles of organic matter and some smaller organisms.

This is the 37th chapter of a series that will bring to us a video per day during this confinement forced by COVID-19.

We hope that you enjoy this initiative, which gives access to a documentary series for free to the world, and you share it with everyone you think will possibly be interested.

Science into Images’s team.

The 36th chapter of the “Inhabitants of the microworld” series is called “Telescopic bug”.

The rotifer Rotaria neptunia has some special characteristics. Its body can be enormously enlarged thanks to the telescopic structure of its foot, conformed by several segments included one into another when contracted. That ability to extraordinarily prolong its foot allows this rotifer to gain a larger area to capture bacteria that are its main food.

This is the 36th chapter of a series that will bring to us a video per day during this confinement forced by COVID-19.

We hope that you enjoy this initiative, which gives access to a documentary series for free to the world, and you share it with everyone you think will possibly be interested.

Science into Images’s team.

The 35th chapter of the “Inhabitants of the microworld” series is called “Secret sand”.

The grains of sand forming the beach hide a lot of secrets. Among these grains live a great population of minimal living beings (crustaceans, annelids, flat worms, protozoans, etc.) keeping alive a singular ecosystem. They are, mainly, responsible for cleaning the sea water pushed by waves to the shore and filtered through the free spaces remaining among the irregular grains.

This is the 35th chapter of a series that will bring to us a video per day during this confinement forced by COVID-19.

We hope that you enjoy this initiative, which gives access to a documentary series for free to the world, and you share it with everyone you think will possibly be interested.

Science into Images’s team.

The 34th chapter of the “Inhabitants of the microworld” series is called “Original sex”.

Reproduction of ciliates has very especial characteristics. Paramecium, as representative of this group of microorganisms, allows us to observe its process of conjugation. During this process, two individuals join and interchange genetic material (DNA). This allows the process of genetic recombination that is in the basis of evolution. Possibly this is the origin of the sexual reproduction, the origin of sex.

This is the 34th chapter of a series that will bring to us a video per day during this confinement forced by COVID-19.

We hope that you enjoy this initiative, which gives access to a documentary series for free to the world, and you share it with everyone you think will possibly be interested.

Science into Images’s team.

The 33rd chapter of the “Inhabitants of the microworld” series is called “Ciliates party”.

Ciliates are single celled organisms and voracious predators of bacteria. When dense populations of bacteria appear in the aquatic environment where ciliates live, they create extraordinary congregations removing bacteria at high speed. This role is fundamental in the maintaining of the ecosystem conditions that otherwise would be completely colonized by bacteria.

This is the 33rd chapter of a series that will bring to us a video per day during this confinement forced by COVID-19.

We hope that you enjoy this initiative, which gives access to a documentary series for free to the world, and you share it with everyone you think will possibly be interested.

Science into Images’s team.

The 31st chapter of the “Inhabitants of the microworld” series is called “Symbionts”.

Termites feed on wood, of course. But, surprisingly, termites cannot digest wood. Then, how do they feed? The process of digestion of the cellulose and lignin, the main components of wood, is not carried out by termites but by their symbionts. These symbionts are a very special group of protozoa and bacteria inhabiting the interior of the termite’s gut (in this case of the subterranean termites of the genus Reticulitermes). The relationship between these termites (called “lower termites”) and their symbiont bacteria and protozoa is an amazing relation of symbiosis allowing the surviving of all of them, surviving that, in other way, would be impossible.

This is the 31st chapter of a series that will bring to us a video per day during this confinement forced by COVID-19.

We hope that you enjoy this initiative, which gives access to a documentary series for free to the world, and you share it with everyone you think will possibly be interested.

Science into Images’s team.