Double mounting with polyporous fungus blocks

Eric or Pat Metzler spruance at infinet.com
Wed Apr 12 08:16:44 EDT 2000


Charles,

I make my own strips from Plastozoat and I'm very happy with it.  Only
annoyance is static electricity that builds up when I'm cutting the strips
(I made a small jig to make certain each strip is exactly to
specifications).  I still have some polyporous strips, but I found them to
be of inconsistent density, thus some pins went in fine, while others went
in with great difficulty.  The plastozoat is always the same consistency - a
bit softer than any polyporous - but easy to get used to.  The pins grip
when specimens are being removed.  Only unknown is long term (100 years +)
storage on Plastozoat.

I douple mount several thousand micros a year on plastozoat.

Good luck.

Eric Metzler
Columbus OH
"Charles Bird" <cbird at heartland.ab.ca> wrote in message
news:4.0.1.20000411081329.00e09a70 at heartland.ab.ca...
> A number of sources advocate double mounting micro moths with polyporous
> fungus blocks (eg. Covell, Eastern Moths, p 21). More recently, Landry &
> Landry, J. Lep Soc. 48:222 state, "Traditionally, blocks have been cut
from
> strips of polypore fungi (especially from birch bracket fungus). Normally
> it is easy to procure polypore strips from naturalist supply houses, but
> periodically they tend to become very difficult to obtain."
>
> I recently tried cutting strips from freshly collected specimens of Fomes
> fomentarius [Tinder Conk] from birch and from Phellinus tremulae (Fomes
> igniarius) [False Tinder Conk] from trembling aspen but found both to be
> too hard. Perhaps these are the wrong species or I should have collected
> them at another time of the year. Ideas anyone?
>
> Landry & Landry (p. 223) recommend against using blocks made from balsa,
> cork, and polystyrene foam (styrofoam) as they are either too hard or are
> not rubbery enough to firmly hold a minuten pin. They further state that
> the durability of blocks made from a silicon rubber compound is uncertain.
> Schauff, Collecting and Preserving Insects and Mites (p. 32), however,
> appears to feel that silicone rubber blocks are OK.
>
> I notice that the latest Bioquip catalog (p. 33) lists only inert silicon
> rubber and plastazote double mount strips. Is there still a source of
> supply for polyporous fungus blocks?
>
> It would appear from the above that polyporous blocks are the traditional
> favorite but that plastazote blocks may be the current favorite. Your
views
> would be appreciated.
>
> Charley
>
>
>



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