A curious caterpillar in the moss

In The Netherlands there are many working groups that regularly make an inventory of the mosses present in nature. For this purpose, the natural landscape is divided into square sections of 1 x 1 km that are characterized by nationally determined coordinates. In such a section it is observed which kinds of mosses occur in it. Many mosses can be identified on the spot. Here, people often use a magnifying glass. Sometimes the determination has to be done at home with the help of a microscope. The results of such an inventory are centrally placed in the "NDFF Verspreidingsatlas" (distribution atlas): www.verspreidingsatlas.nl. This is a database that has been made possible by various nature organizations, with the aim of following the development of the mosses flora under the influence of the environment in the Netherlands.

Synura - The golden algae

When we hear the word algae many of us associate that with the color green. And some algae like desmids, are in fact green. But there are a lot of different kinds of algae, and far from all of them are green. Some are red or red and green like haematococcus, some are blue-green like spirulina, while others are yellowish, brown, or even golden.

A common pest

Rosebay willowherb or Fireweed - Chamerion angustifolium - is a very striking and widespread plant species. During flowering it is easy to recognize. The upright plants have a cluster-shaped inflorescence at the top that tapers to a point. The color of the flowers is purple or purple-red. The separate flowers in the cluster are somewhat symmetrical on both sides because the top two petals are somewhat smaller than the bottom two. The scattered leaves are narrow and lanceolate and closely resemble the leaves of Willows.

Motic Path Case - Granulomatous disease of peritoneum

GRANULOMATOUS DISEASE OF PERITONEUM MIMICKING CLINICALLY A PERITONEAL CARCINOMATOSIS.

A 52 year-old woman, with a background of surgery by pelvic endometriosis two years before, was submitted for showing symptoms of abdominal distension with pseudo obstructive episodes and malaise. Apart from endometriosis, there was no a history of chronic inflammatory diseases or other interesting pathological events. At the physical exam, ascites is discovered coinciding with radiological study by abdominal scan (SC), which reveals multiple and heterogeneous nodules at the peritoneal surface. The clinical diagnosis was of peritoneal carcinomatosis. A laparoscopic study was realized in which no other abdominal abnormalities were perceived apart from the irregular peritoneal thickening, suggesting tumour process. Two biopsies of different nodules were made.  During histological exam, no neoformative tissue was found. On the contrary, the global alteration consisted of multiple isolated or confluent epithelioid granulomas in a fibrotic background. Basically they were made of histiocyte aggregates and less often multinucleated giant cells. Neither central necrosis nor characteristically morphological signs concerning to specific inflammatory disorders were seen. Specific stains such as Ziehl-Neelsen, Periodic Acid Schiff, Giemsa or Methenamine Silver did no visualized pathogen germs. In addition, in order to rule out tuberculosis, a PCR for BK bacilli was also negative. After the fact that specific aetiologies were discarded, the patient is being treated by anti-inflammatories and she is having a slow but good response.

Delimited by a narrow layer of fibrous tissue with mature lymphocytes.

Neither central caseous necrosis nor other specific histological characteristics are seen. 

Arcella vulgaris has caught Synura

This testate amoeba lives in the mud and vegetation in standing water and also in the bottom, between algae and other plants. Arcella Vulgaris is a testate Amoeba with loose pseudopodia protruding from the pseudochitine shell. Testate amoebae are amoebae with an umbrella-shaped hard cover. The cover is for protection and is excreted by the animal itself. They nourish on diatoms, unicellular algae, animal protozoa such as flagellates and ciliates.

Nettles - The healthy stingers

The plant urtica dioica, more commonly known as the stinging nettle, is a plant many of us are unpleasantly familiar with. The quite fitting name ‘nettle’ comes from the anglo-saxon word ‘noedl’ which means ‘needle’ and the latin ‘urtica’ means ‘to burn’. The plant is found worldwide but was originally native to Europe. At its tallest, the nettle grows to around two meters and are equipped with medium sized leaves. Despite many myths both the stem and the leaves are able to sting you as both are covered in the tiny needle-like structures called trichomes or spicules responsible for the burning sensation you get after contact with the plant.

Viburnum's annoying ‘hair’

The Viburnum rhytidophyllum or Leatherleaf plant is native to central China and is especially decorative along the roads, even in the shade. The plant is a shrub 3 to 4 m high. The leaves are lance-shaped, 15-20 cm, pendulous, leathery with relief, dark green on top, light green and hairy. ‘Hairy’; that is, occupied with stellate (star-shaped) nonglandular trichomes. Trichomes can have many functions like defence against harmful insects, humidity regulation and even a sensory function. 

Lengenbach, rare minerals in Switzerland

In the Swiss region of Valais (Wallis) a mine known as Lengenbach is “exploited”. From this small quarry, with a few more than 10 meters of mine face, minerals are not extracted for industry, but for research.

The exploitation works, which began in the s. XIX, are carried out in Triassic dolomites, rich in sulfosalts of Pb, Tl, Ag, and Cu, very rare worldwide, along with numerous other interesting and aesthetic mineral species. Of some of these sulfosalts a single specimen is known. It is the type locality (TL) of 46 different mineral species, making it the fifth most prolific locality in the world (TL: indicates that a mine is the first place in the world where a certain mineral species has been described).

Cutaneous Histiocytoma dog

Histiocytoma

A cutaneous histiocytoma is a benign skin tumor. It consists of an accumulation of a large amount of histiocytes in the skin. Histiocytes are cells that are involved in the immune system. We usually see histiocytomas in young dogs up to the age of 3 years.

In a short time there is a skin tumor ranging from a few millimeters to a few centimeters. Usually they are at the head, lips, ears, neck, legs and chest. They are not painful and do not cause itching, unless there is an inflammation. If they start to itch because of the inflammation, it means that the body is cleaning them up. Regularly this swelling looks fiery and choppy.

Some of the smallest crustaceans in the world

Crustaceans are a huge group of animals living all over the world. There are more than 67.000 known species which dramatically vary in size from around 0.1 mm to almost 4 m. Most are aquatic animals, like crabs and shrimp but some are terrestrial like the woodlouse. All crustaceans have a tough exterior called an exoskeleton used to support and protect their body. This armor is mainly made up of long polymers called chitin combined with calcium carbonate to make it hard. Here we will look at a few of the smallest crustaceans you might encounter in a water sample. The first one we take a closer look at is a copepod.

It is covered in symbiotic algae. The copepod is surrounded by 

younger individuals at different stages of development.