Hi all,

I want to perform a hemocyte count of bumblebee hemolymph using phase contrast microscopy. However, it is very hard for me to know what to look for, as what I see under the microscope does not resemble what I find in pictures in literature.

In the pictures attached are two samples of pure bumblebee hemolymph blown into a Neubauer chamber. For both samples, the pictures were taken at 100x and 400x. It is clear that one sample contains more things (debris?) than the other.

I'm guessing the smaller, dark elliptical things are hemocytes (most visible in the 400 x images)? Or are they the larger irregularly shaped things? Or something else?

Any help would be very appreciated!

Thank you,

Enya