Spreading boards

[Kenelm Philip]

	Bruce Walsh inquired about angled vs flat spreading boards. The
idea behind angled boards is that the wings tend to droop a bit after
the butterfly comes off the board--so a small upward angle for the board
yields flatter wings for the spread specimen.
	I use BioQuip 1022 series boards (18" long) which have a rather
shallow angle. Looking at the specimens in drawers, I find that some of
them still have a slight upward angle, while others have their wings
essentially in a plane, and a few have a very slight downward angle. I
conclude that the slight angle in the BioQuip 1022 boards works fine in
practice.
	Note: if you live in a very humid climate, all bets are off!
When I lived on the East Coast, I had entire drawers of spread specimens
partially relax during damp spells in the summer, and their wings developed
a sharp upward incline. That does not seem to be a problem in Fairbanks...

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu