How to preserve, relax, and mount inverts.

jo1718

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
Messages
27
That's basically it. Looks like the majority of the info is all there. I just freeze the insects once i gather them up and then store them. Others use chemicals in their killing jars. For relaxing i just use a gladware container with some hot water and something for the specimen to rest on . I leave it for a day or so then pinn and let it dry.
 

Chillilisous

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 13, 2015
Messages
41
Yes definitely do not handle it with bare hands... and wear glasses too. I work in a hospital and got a drop in my eye once, it is not a fun experience.

Basically CH2O is the most basic aldehyde (C=O) chemical possible and is a better competing electrophile than anything around. The effect of this is that is essentially freezes any reactions occurring. I believe the container at our hospital also calls it a carcinogen although I'm not sure the mechanism for this... the only one that comes to mind would be that the N7 lone pair on DNA is alkylated leading to cleavage of the nucleobase creating an abasic site in which water can them come in and cause strand scission.
Moral of the story is treat it with care, gloves and glasses.
 

ARACHNO-SMACK48

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
284
Am I the only one who thinks preserving dead insects is a bit on the creepy side? I am not saying that people who do this are creepy, just that I think it would be weird to have a bunch of insects floating in jars or preserved and displayed in one's house. Having said that we are all arachnid hobbyists, so we as a community do seem to have a very different interpretation of what is creepy/scary and what isn't.
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,044
Yes definitely do not handle it with bare hands... and wear glasses too. I work in a hospital and got a drop in my eye once, it is not a fun experience.

Basically CH2O is the most basic aldehyde (C=O) chemical possible and is a better competing electrophile than anything around. The effect of this is that is essentially freezes any reactions occurring. I believe the container at our hospital also calls it a carcinogen although I'm not sure the mechanism for this... the only one that comes to mind would be that the N7 lone pair on DNA is alkylated leading to cleavage of the nucleobase creating an abasic site in which water can them come in and cause strand scission.
Moral of the story is treat it with care, gloves and glasses.
The vapors given off by itself or in combinations as urea formaldehyde glues are considered to be a carcinogen or carcinogen contributor around 3 ppm in open air so respiratory protection is also advised.
This is one of those goddam chemicals that had and has thousands of commercial uses and various lobbying groups have done their jobs well trying to keep it's hazardous restrictions to a minimum. IE, there is some product or byproduct of it in every home.
I don't quite get this mincing around. In the fire service it is considered a highly flammable carcinogen going by the NFPA.
 

Pharoah36

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 26, 2015
Messages
3
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I had to pin and preserve insects for a class project. I would gather the insects and freeze them. I wouldnt even bother with a kill jar, a freezer is much faster and more efficient method. As soon as you kill them, its better to go ahead and pin them. It makes it a lot easier to manipulate the legs, and you dont have to put them in a relaxing chamber. I pin butterflies a little differently from scorpions and beetles for obvious reasons. For large specimens like scorpions you can freeze them for several months and you do not have to deal with preserving them in an alcohol filled jar. If you freeze them for a long period of time the water subliminates out of the organs and they dont rot. A lot of videos show people removing the guts of scorpions and tarantulas but its really unnecessary. I only use styrofoam, pins, tooth picks, wax paper, tweezers (optional), and a knife to cut the styrofoam for all my pinnings. Butterfly boards are not needed. When I finish positioning the insect and its all pinned with toothpicks or pins i spray it with hair spray. The hair spray makes the beetles and scorpions shiny and helps preserve them. I sometimes do butterflies but most of the time I dont. I leave the bugs pinned for a couple weeks just to make sure they are solidified in that position then i removed the toothpicks or pins. Let me know if you have any questions, I included some pictures so you have an idea of what I did.
 
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