[Nhcoll-l] vials for storing insects in ETOH
Dirk Neumann
neumann at snsb.de
Thu Nov 18 02:46:09 EST 2021
Dear Tonya,
adding to Andy and John and picking up what Doug said, there are two
main points to consider:
Firstly, as John mentioned, the (plastic) stoppers fail, which often
means that they start to melt down or release chemicals (e.g.
softeners), which, because of small volumes inside tubes, might trigger
secondary reactions that can harm contained material rapidly (e.g.
rubber-based stoppers melting into vials and specimens, softeners
changing chemical equilibria, etc. ). Because jars are packed with
tubes, it is difficult to monitor this, because usually you only look to
the outer vials, but rarely those in the middle of the jar (unless you
would remove all smaller jars inside the jar, which nobody does, I assume).
Secondly, it might be worth taking the glass tubes themselves in
consideration as well. Soda-lime glass tends to release alkaline ions,
which can create very reactive surface layers on the glass surfaces
inside these tubes. While this is not so much of a problem for larger
specimens as fish, the contact surface of small invertebrates with
containers walls is much larger. Our Entomology here in Munich therefore
relies on borosilicate tubes. There are various producers for such
borosilicate test tubes.
This basically matches the conservational recommendations of the
KUR-Project of colleagues in Berlin for the restoration of their fluid
collections (only in German, here is a DeepL-translation of the relevant
section):
Store smaller preparations in borosilicate tubes with cotton wool
stoppers (KERMA company) (for spiked preparations
(for spiked specimens wrap stopper with Japanese paper from PAPER NAO)
to prevent contact with highly reactive
soda lime glass weathering layer,
- Minimum volume for collection jars 200 ml as safety against desiccation.
Hope this help
Dirk
Am 18.11.2021 um 00:01 schrieb John E Simmons:
> I second Andy's recommendation of the polyester fiber plugs. They are
> far easier to work with and rarely come out of the vials if inserted
> correctly. Compressible stoppers, soft flexible lids, and rigid lids
> will all fail over time.
>
> --John
>
> John E. Simmons
> Writer and Museum Consultant
> Museologica
> /and/
> Associate Curator of Collections
> Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
> Penn State Universitybatting
> /and/
> Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
> Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 17, 2021 at 5:58 PM Bentley, Andrew Charles
> <abentley at ku.edu> wrote:
>
> Tonya
>
> Here at KU, out entomology division is doing similar by placing
> vials into larger jars for more efficient storage. However,
> instead of using caps, they are using polyester batting to stopper
> each vial which has the advantage of allowing alcohol exchange
> between each individual vial and the surrounding alcohol in the
> jar. A small wad of the batting inserted into the top of the vial
> provides a good barrier -
> https://www.amazon.com/Fairfield-Poly-Premium-Fiber-32-Ounce/dp/B004ALQ0M2.
> The material is not affected by alcohol and does not break down.
>
> I can send images if it would help
>
> Andy
>
> A : A : A :
> }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
> V V V
> Andy Bentley
> Ichthyology Collection Manager
> University of Kansas
> Biodiversity Institute
>
> Dyche Hall
> 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
> Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
> USA
>
> Tel: (785) 864-3863 <tel:%28785%29%20864-3863>
> Fax: (785) 864-5335 <tel:%28785%29%20864-5335>
> Email: abentley at ku.edu <mailto:abentley at ku.edu>
>
> ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3093-1258
> <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3093-1258>
>
> http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu
> <http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu/>
>
> A : A : A :
> }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
> V V V
>
> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> *On Behalf Of
> *Simon Moore
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 17, 2021 4:50 PM
> *To:* Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>
> *Cc:* NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [Nhcoll-l] vials for storing insects in ETOH
>
> Hi Tonya,
>
> When I was last doing this kind of work (about 20 years ago) I
> used nylon ribbed caps and these were inserted (inverted) into
> larger jars. When I last looked at them (one year ago) they were
> still holding up well with no noticeable evaporation.
>
> With all good wishes, Simon
>
> Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
> Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,
>
> www.natural-history-conservation.com
> <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.natural-history-conservation.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cabentley%40ku.edu%7Cc6cd1d6e50154069406308d9aa1cbb5d%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C637727863231213644%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=ctraOG5JSiI%2F62qwryxe4JSTZvzbQ71jcalxszp2fgg%3D&reserved=0>
>
>
>
>
> On 17 Nov 2021, at 22:32, Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace)
> <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> We are planning on rehousing our collection of vertebrate
> parasites in ETOH (a range of invertebrate taxa) before
> we move to our new building in a few years. The goal is to: a)
> make the specimens safer from accidental dehydration; and b)
> save space and alcohol volume. The collection is currently
> housed in McCartney vials. They are good but do eventually
> fail, and dry out rapidly when they do. In addition, there are
> many specimens that could be housed in much smaller
> containers, which would save lots of space, if it were
> appropriate to do so.
>
> Our plan is to move specimens and labels into smaller vials,
> filled with alcohol, and then to place those smaller
> vials into 2L jars topped with ETOH. Jars would be organised
> taxonomically and with a large label inside the jar
> so specimens will still be easy to find (though it will
> probably be annoying to have to go through the whole jar but
> hey ho). But we think this solution offers greater
> storage/space potential and should allow us so safely preserve
> smaller specimens in smaller vials, without the risk of
> dehydration.
>
> My question regards vial tops. Right now we are planning on
> using LDPE push top lids (into soda glass vials). I think this
> should be fine, but I just wanted to collect the collective
> mind to see if anyone had any thoughts on this to offer? It's
> the lids that I am wondering about. The only alternative I can
> think of is to use cotton stoppers instead, but I worry that
> cotton is too 'catchy' for invertebrates and might lead to
> damage. We could get screw top lids, but they are wadded and I
> am not sure what the lid material is (but it is black so maybe
> Bakelite?).
>
> The specimens will be housed in a climate-controlled vault at
> 18C and 50% rH, so I think there shouldn't be any issues of
> lids popping out because of temperature changes, etc (though
> that thought does make me feel nervous I admit).
>
> Thanks in advance and apologies for the very long email!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Tonya
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> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
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> _______________________________________________
> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. Seehttp://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
--
Dirk Neumann
Tel: 089 / 8107-111
Fax: 089 / 8107-300
neumann(a)snsb.de
Postanschrift:
Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Storage
Münchhausenstr. 21
81247 München
Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/sektion/ichthyologie-home/
---------
Dirk Neumann
Tel: +49-89-8107-111
Fax: +49-89-8107-300
neumann(a)snsb.de
postal address:
Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Storage
Muenchhausenstr. 21
81247 Munich (Germany)
Visit our section at:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/sektion/ichthyologie-home/
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