Jonathan A. Coddington, Curator of Arachnids & Myriapods
Jon sitting next to his newest acquisition in his arsenal of research tools.
Jon needs to capture detail of very small spiders and spider parts among other things and is using the Visionary digital BK lab system to do that. Jon’s custom configuration affords dynamic control over illumination which is critical in imaging very fine detail.
 
In this photo Jon has captured an image of male spider genitalia (pedipalp) approximately 1mm long. Jon’s goal is to use digital imaging to record for taxonomic publication and identification small diagnostic structures on the palp. Digital imaging is faster than the traditional method of hand illustrating these tiny structures.
 

Some of the challenges that Jon had to overcome were imaging in ethanol as well as non-flat subject matter. It is extremely detailed in three dimensions. Jon is continuing to develop a series of progressively more refined solutions to these obstacles and is in my opinion Jon is in the forefront of this type of specialized imaging.

We are very happy to have the opportunity to work with Jon and hope that through continued collaboration we can push the limits even further in this field.

For more information on Jonathan Coddington and what he is working with please visit this site. http://entomology.si.edu/StaffPages/coddington.html