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Reflected Light Digital Image Gallery

The range of specimens suitable for imaging in the reflected or incident light category is enormous, and includes metals, ores, ceramics, polymers, semiconductor wafers and dies, slag, coal, plastics, paint, paper, wood, leather, and glass inclusions. In order to study these specimens, which are unable to pass light through the interior, illumination must be directed onto the surface and eventually returned to the microscope objective by either specular of diffused reflectance. The MIC-D digital microscope reflected light gallery contains a selected variety of specimens that are often captured with telephoto lenses in traditional photography.

Aphid In Clover - Aphids, also known as plant lice, are insect pests and disease vectors annually responsible for millions of dollars in crop damage. Clovers (Trifolium species), such as the yellow, red, white, and sweet clovers, used as range food and harvested as hay, are not immune to the sap suckers.

Blackberry (Rubus villosus) - When the great American poet Walt Whitman wrote that the blackberry "would adorn the parlors of heaven", he had no idea that modern pharmaceutical researchers would add to his admiration. Recently, nutritionists and the medical community have examined the blackberry as a possible nutraceutical - a food that provides medical or health benefits beyond basic nutrition, including prevention and treatment of disease. Whether they are used for jellies and jams, ice cream, pies, juices, wine, or eaten raw, blackberries are the most widely used member of the caneberries.

Blue Cotton Denim - The fabric that helped Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss launch an empire in 1873, blue cotton denim, is most famous as the material from which blue jeans are constructed. Denim, actually historically distinct from jean cloth, is a durable fabric that was originally imported from England and known by its weavings as a coarse cotton drilling, which was suitable in wear and comfort for work clothes.

Common Garden Geranium (Pelargonium x hortorum) - A favorite of home gardeners and horticulturists, the common garden geranium (Pelargonium x hortorum) is also known as the zonal geranium, based on the distinct bands or zones on their ornamental leaves. Whether single, double, or in clusters, the flowers of the geranium vary in coloration with red, pink, salmon, and white available in cultivars.

Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperla rufilabris) - The beautiful and delicate common green lacewings, Chrysoperla rufilabris, feed on nectar, honeydew, and pollen as do butterflies, but their predaceous offspring help control many garden and crop pests. Members of the insect order Neuroptera, lacewings undergo egg, larval, pupal, and adult life stages.

Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperla rufilabris) - The beautiful and delicate common green lacewings, Chrysoperla rufilabris, feed on nectar, honeydew, and pollen as do butterflies, but their predaceous offspring help control many garden and crop pests. Members of the insect order Neuroptera, lacewings undergo egg, larval, pupal, and adult life stages.

Dungeness Crab (Cancer magister) - The Dungeness crab, Cancer magister, is a popular shellfish offered in fish markets and restaurants worldwide as a seafood delicacy. Named for a shallow, sandy bay they inhabit adjacent to the Dungeness Spit of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, these marine crustaceans are found along the Pacific Coast of North America from Cook Inlet near the North Pole, south to Magdalena Bay, Mexico.

Eastern Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum) - Often confused with the exotic gypsy moth and the fall webworm, the eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum) is a native North American botanical pest found commonly on wild cherry, apple, hawthorn, plum, and maple trees. As the larval stage of a reddish-brown moth, periodic outbreaks of this nesting herbivore can cause serious tree defoliation, weakening but usually not killing the hosts.

Grass Sponge (Spongia species) - Known in the market as grass sponges, members of the genus Spongia include coarse, commercial natural sponges that have irregularly tufted surfaces. In Florida and the West Indies, S. graminea and S. equina supported thriving sponge diving industries until the advent of synthetic sponge materials.

House Fly (Musca domestica) Wing - Usually the cause of disgust because of its distasteful feeding and sanitary habits, and its developmental cycle (producing maggots), the house fly (Musca domestica) has capabilities that rival some of the best defense industry innovations. Its compound eyes, chemosensory organs, wings, and motion detection abilities, coupled with high reproductive rates and advanced external digestion process, combine to make the house fly one of the world's most successful insects.

Jumping Spider (Phidippus species) - As members of the Family Salticidae (jumping spiders), species in the genus Phidippus feature eight eyes, two body segments, and spinnerets. Some of the largest salticids in the world are found in Florida, such as P. regius and P. otiosus, and at least 12 species occur in the Sunshine State, from a genus that includes more than 51 described species. Worldwide in distribution, jumping spiders are particularly well studied and appreciated in Japan.

Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) - A favorite of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, Japanese honeysuckle is a semi-evergreen vine that keeps its leaves in temperate climates late into the winter. The white or yellow tubular flowers of Lonicera japonica form in pairs at the leaf axils and the two to three-seeded fruits are small, black, and enjoyed by songbirds such as cedar waxwings.

Ladybug (Hippodamia species) - Known as ladybugs or ladybirds, members of the beetle family Coccinellidae in the genus Hippodamia are favorites of children and farmers. These black-spotted orange coleopterans are valuable as insectivores, which feed on plant pests found in gardens and crop fields.

Lantana - A native to the Caribbean region, Lantana camara is so well established in Florida that a city is named after it and most "crackers" mistake it as a native of the Sunshine State. This tough evergreen shrub of the Tropics features beautiful flowers, which is loved by butterflies, but cursed by an unpleasant odor .

Lavender Wildflower - One person's weeds are another's wildflowers. Often found in urban settings and other disturbed ecosystems, many weed species thrive in small niches such as sidewalk cracks and spaces in brickwork.

Male Mosquito (Culex pipiens) - Having a worldwide distribution, the Culex genus of mosquitoes is found on every continent except Antarctica, and includes 14 species in the United States and Canada. Commonly known as the house mosquito, the blood-sucking insect feeds on warm-blooded vertebrates, including humans, birds, and horses, and is a known carrier of several serious pathogens including viral encephalitis, filiarsis, and West Nile virus.

Male Mosquito (Culex pipiens) - Having a worldwide distribution, the Culex genus of mosquitoes is found on every continent except Antarctica, and includes 14 species in the United States and Canada. Commonly known as the house mosquito, the blood-sucking insect feeds on warm-blooded vertebrates, including humans, birds, and horses, and is a known carrier of several serious pathogens including viral encephalitis, filiarsis, and West Nile virus.

Marigold (Tagetes species) - Marigolds (Tagetes species), annual herbs in the burgeoning flowering family Compositae, are native to Africa, France, South America, Mexico, and New Mexico and are extremely popular with gardeners. A sun-loving plant genus featuring a wide variety of colors and flower-head configurations, this cultured plant is not groomed for its fragrance, which politely can be described as pungent.

Marigold (Tagetes species) - Marigolds (Tagetes species), annual herbs in the burgeoning flowering family Compositae, are native to Africa, France, South America, Mexico, and New Mexico and are extremely popular with gardeners. A sun-loving plant genus featuring a wide variety of colors and flower-head configurations, this cultured plant is not groomed for its fragrance, which politely can be described as pungent.

Ornamental Palm Leaf - Palm trees, the symbol of the good life in the Tropics, can be brought into the household as potted, ornamental plants. Just as their big brothers along the beach or in the rainforest have preferred growing conditions, the proper light, moisture, soil, nutrition, and protection from disease are required for the indoor palm tree.

Penny - The phrase "just a penny for your thoughts" might place Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, on your mind. Made of pure copper during most of its existence, except during the years of World War II, the Lincoln penny has been minted since 1909. Its design is based on a photographic portrait by Anthony Berger taken on February 9, 1864, in Mathew Brady's Washington, D.C. studio.

Pentas (Pentas lanceolata) - Known as pentas or the Egyptian star, Pentas lanceolata are a favorite of home gardeners and landscapers in tropical and subtropical settings. These flowering plants, featuring inflorescences of white, red, lavender, or pink (as pictured here), bear 4-inch clusters of 0.5-inch flowers.

Southern Mole Cricket (Scapteriscus borellii) - The southern mole cricket, a member of the family Gryllotalpidae in the order Orthoptera, is considered a pest insect species from North Carolina to Texas. It was introduced about 1900 into Florida and Georgia from southern South America. Unlike most mole crickets that feed on decomposing organic matter and roots, the nymphs and adults of the southern mole cricket are largely carnivorous, tunneling beneath turf and pasture grasses, creating damage.

White Clover (Trifolium repens) - Known as the white or Dutch clover, Trifolium repens was introduced to North America from Europe as a forage crop and is now commonly found as a weed along pathways, roadsides, and in lawns. In similarity with the other clovers in the Trifolium genus, white clover is an excellent soil builder, particularly for nitrogen-depleted soil.

White-Flowered Weed - The angiosperms, or flowering plants, are highly diverse, evolving during the Cretaceous period (130 to 90 million years ago) into more than 270,000 species. Insect pollinators coevolved with this plant group, and gave them a reproductive advantage over their ancestors, which depended upon wind transportation of their pollen.

Wild Iris (Iris species) - Irises are among the easiest of the perennials to grow from a rhizome. Long in cultivation, there are literally hundreds of varieties on the market, with new cultivars continually being developed by avid horticulturists.

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria species) - When John Lennon spoke of "strawberry fields forever" he echoed the sentiments of writers since Shakespeare's Henry V of their celebration, love, and wonder of the strawberry. Strawberries, as known in today's produce markets, have been cultivated since the early 1800s when, in France, an accidental cross of a white-fruited variety from Chile and a red-fruited species from the then-colony of Virginia produced a larger, sweeter fruit.

Contributing Authors

Cynthia D. Kelly, Thomas J. Fellers and Michael W. Davidson - National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Dr., The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310.


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