Pinning
and mounting. Dry specimens of hard-bodied adult forms
of insects are, for the most part, mounted on insect pins and displayed
in some type of collection storage box. Insects to be mounted should
be fresh, recently thawed from freezing or relaxed to allow legs,
antennae and wings to be moved into position during the mounting
procedure (see section, “Collecting
and Preserving Butterflies”). If specimens are to be
prepared for artistic display and are to be glued onto a surface
without a pin, either mount it without pinning through the body
or dry the specimen first and relax it before mounting. Otherwise
the pin will be fixed to the specimen and will need to be cut off
risking injury to the specimen.
Conventions
for pinning specimens are related to the order and size of the insect
to be mounted (see Borror and White 1970
or other reference). While holding the specimen between your
thumb and forefinger, insert the pin through the appropriate body
region making sure the specimen is oriented properly (see "Pinning
a Scarab Beetle") to the pin. When pinning a series of specimens,
mount them uniformly. Aids such as pinning blocks will allow uniform
height of specimens and labels (see section, “Keeping
good records”) mounted on the pin.
Relaxing
jar and other methods. Adult hard-bodied insects quickly
become dry and brittle after they have died. They can, however,
be “relaxed” so that body segments allow repositioning
of legs, wings and antennae (see "Collecting
and Preserving Butterflies"). The conventional way to
relax a specimen is to put it in a tightly sealed container such
as a plastic box, large jar or rubberized sandwich box containing
a moistened paper towel or cotton material. Because fungi and molds
will quickly form on a specimen kept under highly humid conditions,
some type of antiseptic agent needs to be added to prevent this
growth. Lysol® can be used with some success, although there
are specialty products such as Glanz relaxing fluid or chloro-cresol
that have been sold and used for this purpose.
De-greasing
specimens. Some beetles and moths produce oils that discolor
them. Collectors can try de-greasing specimens by soaking them
in a solvent like white gasoline (Coleman® Stove Fuel) for
a period of time to remove the oils.
Storage
boxes (Schmitt boxes, Cornell drawers, cabinets). Insect
collections can be maintained in almost any box large enough and
deep enough to hold the pinned insects. Cigar boxes with styrofoam
or cork layer on the inside bottom are useful. More permanent boxes
are Schmitt boxes or Cornell drawers which can be purchased commercially.
Schmitt boxes typically have a pinning bottom and a closed hinged
lid. Cornell drawers have a glass top and smaller boxes called
unit trays are used to fill the box and hold the specimens.
Vials. Various
sizes and styles of vials are sold through specialty product sources.
Select vials that accommodate the sized specimens being collected
and preserved. Uniformity of vial size becomes important in organizing
collections for storage. They are available with cork or rubber stoppers
and plastic caps that have different types of seals. Some reduce
evaporation of alcohol better than others depending on the type of
seal. A few curators submerge vials housing specimens in larger alcohol-containing
jars. Regardless, specimens need to be examined periodically to assure
that specimens remain submerged in the preservative fluid.
Shadow
boxes, glass domes. For artistic display of attractive
insect specimens, they can be mounted them in shaddow boxes, double-glass
frames or glass domes. Shadow boxes and double glass frames have
a space for mounting specimens between the back (wood or glass)
and the front glass panel (see Design).
Generally, specimens are mounts either without pins through the
body or by pinning dried specimens that have been relaxed so the
pin does not adhere to the body, although pinned specimens can
be used if the space in the shadow box frame is sufficient. On
wooden or Masonite backings, an attractive cloth can be glued down
and allowed to dry using white glue (i.e., Elmer’s). The
specimen is then glued to the cloth (for larger butterfly specimens,
legs and hair may need to be removed to allow glue to adhere to
the insect’s exoskeleton). Dried flowers, pieces of bark
or twigs could be added to make a “nature” scene. Once
complete, the glass and back should be glued to the frame so that
no cracks or spaces remain to allow for entry of book lice and
dermestid (carpet) beetles.
For double
glass frames, specimens can be glued onto glass directly using clear
silicone glue (often sold in aquarium supply departments). However,
a small piece of cork can also be glued onto the glass so that the
specimen can be glued or pinned onto the cork.
For insect
domes (available at hobby stores), specimens can be glued onto pieces
of wood or stems and arranged with other dried materials. The glass
dome can be glued to the base using epoxy or clear silicone glue.
Imbedding in plastic. Super clear liquid casting
resin is sold by some hobby stores (Deep Flex Pastic Molds, Inc.,
Fort Worth, TX 76110). These can be used for imbedding objects like
dry insect specimens into clear transparent bases and other decorative
flat surfaces. The resin remains in liquid form until a catalyst
(hardener) is added to start the “curing” or hardening
process. Polyethylene plastic molds are available, but home-made
molds from glazed ceramic, glass, polished metal and cooking molds
have also been used. Experimentation is necessary for developing
techniques to center specimens, remove air bubbles and proper curing.
Follow instructions provided by the manufacturer. The catalyst is
very toxic and should never be used unsupervised by children. Once
the cast is released, it can be sanded and/or coated with a light
spray of Clear Plastic Spray if necessary.
