Tonight I happened to observe a fresh Macintosh apple under a
stereomicroscope looking for any strange wild life. In the area of
the flower and the stem depressions there were many small bright red
hemispherical bodies approx 0.25 millimeter in size. The bodies did
not move.

Here is a picture of the stem showing them. .

http://home.comcast.net/~nghy/mywebp...st/apple02.jpg

Does anyone recognize what I was observing?

Thanks
Aaron

Did you perhaps have the remains of the anthers?

M. Reed

Aaron wrote:

Tonight I happened to observe a fresh Macintosh apple under a
stereomicroscope looking for any strange wild life. In the area of
the flower and the stem depressions there were many small bright red
hemispherical bodies approx 0.25 millimeter in size. The bodies did
not move.

Here is a picture of the stem showing them. .

http://home.comcast.net/~nghy/mywebp...st/apple02.jpg

Does anyone recognize what I was observing?

Thanks
Aaron
.

--
ÿWPC5

I don;t think this is part of the original plant. Upon further
observation it seems to be a fungus of some sort.

Anyone with further ideas.

Aaron

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 09:28:50 -0600, Monique Reed
wrote:

Did you perhaps have the remains of the anthers?

M. Reed

Aaron wrote:

Tonight I happened to observe a fresh Macintosh apple under a
stereomicroscope looking for any strange wild life. In the area of
the flower and the stem depressions there were many small bright red
hemispherical bodies approx 0.25 millimeter in size. The bodies did
not move.

Here is a picture of the stem showing them. .

http://home.comcast.net/~nghy/mywebp...st/apple02.jpg

Does anyone recognize what I was observing?

Thanks
Aaron
.

Aaron wrote in
news
I don;t think this is part of the original plant. Upon further
observation it seems to be a fungus of some sort.

Anyone with further ideas.

Aaron

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 09:28:50 -0600, Monique Reed
wrote:

Did you perhaps have the remains of the anthers?

M. Reed

Aaron wrote:

Tonight I happened to observe a fresh Macintosh apple under a
stereomicroscope looking for any strange wild life. In the area
of the flower and the stem depressions there were many small
bright red hemispherical bodies approx 0.25 millimeter in size.
The bodies did not move.

Here is a picture of the stem showing them. .

http://home.comcast.net/~nghy/mywebp...st/apple02.jpg

Does anyone recognize what I was observing?

Thanks
Aaron
.


Based on the magnification, they probably aren't the remains of the
anthers, but do look like pollen grains. The anthers on the Fuji
apple in my refrigerator are much larger than those items (in
relation to the stigma), and seem to reliably stay attached to the
filament.
Compare the structure as you can see it with this image
http://www.cci.ca.gov/Reference/Pollen/crabapol.jpg

Sean

Hello,

I went back and looked at other apples. I am sure that what I asked
about is not theremainder of the flower parts. I recognized these. I
am now sure that what I observed was a fungus or other infestation.
It was very slight but I saw it at both the stem and flower ends. At
the flower end the unknown material wa outside of the flower parts and
onto the skin of the apple.

Does this help in further identification. The round bodies were
sherical (not oblong), bright red and irregularly spaced. The red
objects were surrounded by a white filamentous material.

Aaron

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 21:37:54 GMT, Sean Houtman
wrote:

Aaron wrote in
news
I don;t think this is part of the original plant. Upon further
observation it seems to be a fungus of some sort.

Anyone with further ideas.

Aaron

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 09:28:50 -0600, Monique Reed
wrote:

Did you perhaps have the remains of the anthers?

M. Reed

Aaron wrote:

Tonight I happened to observe a fresh Macintosh apple under a
stereomicroscope looking for any strange wild life. In the area
of the flower and the stem depressions there were many small
bright red hemispherical bodies approx 0.25 millimeter in size.
The bodies did not move.

Here is a picture of the stem showing them. .

http://home.comcast.net/~nghy/mywebp...st/apple02.jpg

Does anyone recognize what I was observing?

Thanks
Aaron
.


Based on the magnification, they probably aren't the remains of the
anthers, but do look like pollen grains. The anthers on the Fuji
apple in my refrigerator are much larger than those items (in
relation to the stigma), and seem to reliably stay attached to the
filament.
Compare the structure as you can see it with this image
http://www.cci.ca.gov/Reference/Pollen/crabapol.jpg

Sean

Aaron schreef
Does this help in further identification. The round bodies were
sherical (not oblong), bright red and irregularly spaced. The red
objects were surrounded by a white filamentous material.

***
I can only suggest you post a picture that is a little more clear. The first
one showed relatively little.
PvR

Just to set the orthographic record straight:
McIntosh is the apple.
Macintosh is the Apple computer.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Yogi Berra

I apologize for the poor image. The evidence was washed away and the
apples were consumed. ;-) If I come across these red spots again I
will be carefull to document them better.

Aaron

On Sat, 6 Nov 2004 08:23:00 +0100, "P van Rijckevorsel"
wrote:

Aaron schreef
Does this help in further identification. The round bodies were
sherical (not oblong), bright red and irregularly spaced. The red
objects were surrounded by a white filamentous material.

***
I can only suggest you post a picture that is a little more clear. The first
one showed relatively little.
PvR

Thank you to all who have tried to help.

If you check my original post, you will see this link to a picture of
the objects in question. This is a closeup of the stem looking down
into the depression where the stem is attached. I have reworked this
image to remove some contrast and maybe the unknow material will be
more clearly exposed.

http://home.comcast.net/~nghy/mywebp...st/apple02.jpg

Aaron

On 06 Nov 2004 13:13:42 GMT, (Iris Cohen) wrote:

Just to set the orthographic record straight:
McIntosh is the apple.
Macintosh is the Apple computer.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Yogi Berra

In article , Aaron wrote:
If you check my original post, you will see this link to a picture of
the objects in question.

They look like eggs to me but I don't know what of. If you haven't already
done so, you might try asking in an entomological group.

Roger

Thank you for the suggestion. I have sent an email with the url to a
specialist.

Aaron

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 08:48:09 GMT, Roger Whitehead
wrote:

In article , Aaron wrote:
If you check my original post, you will see this link to a picture of
the objects in question.

They look like eggs to me but I don't know what of. If you haven't already
done so, you might try asking in an entomological group.

Roger

In article , Aaron wrote:
I have sent an email with the url to a specialist.

Please let us know what he says. I imagine quite a few people here are
curious about them, too. I know I am. 8-)

Roger

Your suggestion to contact an entymologist was not as easy a procedure
as I had anticipated. Entymologists are hard to reach and often want
a fee for their service. I did conduct a few google searches and
found a likely candidate.. My best guess now is that these are the
over wintering eggs of the European red mite, a well known pest that
attacks apples and other furits.

See
http://tfpg.cas.psu.edu/part2/part22bl.htm

http://tfpg.cas.psu.edu/insects/european_red_mite1.jpg

The picture of the eggs looks just like what I observed, however the
eggs I observed were located on and around the apple stem and in the
depression around the remnants of the flower. According to the
literature the mite eggs are found on the rough bark near the buds on
the trees and the mites feed on the leaves. So this discrepancy adds
a great note of uncertainty.

Of course the mites themselves never read the literature and I could
not examine the tree from which the apple was harvested . ;-))

I have not found any more instances of the same pest on subsequent
purchases of apples. Unfortunately, I washed away the evidence and
ate the apples.

Aaron

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 20:29:07 GMT, Roger Whitehead
wrote:

In article , Aaron wrote:
I have sent an email with the url to a specialist.

Please let us know what he says. I imagine quite a few people here are
curious about them, too. I know I am. 8-)

Roger

In article , Aaron wrote:
Entymologists are hard to reach and often want
a fee for their service

Ah. I was thinking more of asking in sci.bio.entomology. Much cheaper. 8-)

My best guess now is that these are the
over wintering eggs of the European red mite,

Looks a possible, doesn't it? The location of the eggs is unusual, though.
Perhaps they were misplaced summer eggs, which apparently tend to be on
the underside of the apple leaves.

Roger

In article , Roger Whitehead wrote:
The location of the eggs is unusual, though.

Aha! See here - http://tinyurl.com/3pv2t . The calyx end of the apple is
where the stalk goes.

Roger