specimen repair

[Chris Conlan]

>Fixing antennae broken "halfway",

As mentioned in earlier posts, clear nail polish works well for me too.

>torn wings (especially where the tear is TOTALLY separated.

I use nail polish for the adhesive and a tiny sliver of paper or thin,
clear transparency film as a backing on the underside so the fix is more
permanent and there is more surface area for bonding. (this may not work
for very small specimens?)


>and WHAT do you use for mounting boards, pinning strips, even prefferred
>pins!

Most of my boards have adjustable center grooves (works better for all the
moths I deal with) and balsa covering for easier pin insertion.  Instead of
the more traditional paper most folks use, I prefer to use strips of clear
transparency film.  It's the stuff people use for overhead projector
presentations.  It's perfectly clear so you can see your specimens on the
board and tougher than paper so you can apply more tension for those
stubborn wings.  I use stainless steel Elefant brand pins for the body and
#3 cheapo (brand X) pins for all the other manipulations.  I use a small
wad of cotton or tissue to support the body and also the antennae if
necessary.  For the larger more feathery antennae of Saturniids I pin a
small piece of transparency film right over top of the antennae (without
putting the pin through them!) to hold them flat and evenly displayed.  I
also cover the whole wing with the transparency strip and avoid piercing
the wing as much as possible.  (Kenelm wasn't kidding when he said this
method uses a lot of pins, but it sure beats having pieces of glass sliding
all over the place!)

Chris Conlan
conlan at adnc.com