[NHCOLL-L:2337] Re: Insects and glue

[Doug Yanega]

Timothy Tomon asked:

>I was originally taught that insects should be prepared (pointed, 
>repaired, etc.) with alcohol soluble glue.
>
>However, I recently read in an article that "glue should be water 
>soluble" [Journal of Insect Conservation
>7 (1): 33-44, March 2003].
>
>Is there a consensus on this?  If so, can someone recommend specific products?

and Dave Furth wrote:

>Water-soluble glue is best for a numbe of reasons, even Elmer's, 
>hide glue, etc.

I'd be very surprised if there was a consensus, and am a bit 
surprised that someone would insist on water-soluble glue. David, you 
say there are "reasons" to use such glue, but give none of them. Can 
you elaborate? My understanding and experience is this: over short 
periods of time, water-soluble glue seems to be fine, but not after 
50 years or so; when it gets very old, it definitely loses its 
solubility - if an insect has parts embedded in the glue, then, it 
becomes nearly impossible to remove, and if not, they seem prone to 
falling off the point. This loss of solubility does not appear to 
occur with alcohol-based adhesives. Accordingly, whenever we're 
mounting tiny insects that may need, at some future date, to be 
removed from the point (for dissection or slide mounting) we try to 
use either shellac gel or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the adhesive. 
For larger insects (say, over 5 mm) and repairs, we often use 
whatever is handy, which is typically white glue or sometimes clear 
nail polish, both of which are VASTLY easier to obtain than either 
shellac gel or PVA. We generally make our own shellac gel, using 
standard recipes, and we have an ancient stash of Gelva (a type of 
PVA) which is guarded jealously and used sparingly, as it seems to 
not be sold in anything less than gargantuan industrial-sized 
quantities any more. If anyone knows a good source for fresh PVA in 
small amounts, I'd be very interested. Likewise, if anyone knows 
legitimate reasons to consider shellac gel or PVA to be *bad*, I'd 
like to know.

Peace,
-- 

Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
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