relaxing jar

[Douglas Bilsland]

Can anyone recommend a good technique for relaxing butterfly specimens?

Here is a summary of the responses:
 
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 In my experience, most problems with relaxing arise from layering
specimens  in the relaxer, which may have a rather small cross-section.
The essential  thing is to have a large surface area of water, and then a
single layer of  well-separated specimens. Such a setup will relax small
to average-sized  butterflies (up to _Colias_ and _Speyeria_, for example)
in no more than  a day and a half. Lycaenids are relaxed within a day.
Rapid relaxing reduces  the time during which mold can grow.
The setup I have been using for many years now is the following:    A 12
by 18 inch (3-inch deep) Pyrex baking dish with a 1/4 inch plate glass
lid. The lid has four holes drilled in it, and two wooden handles are
attached on the top. A tight seal between the lid and the upper edge of
the Pyrex dish was made by running a bead of silicone caulk along the top
of the edge of the dish, coating the bottom of the plate glass above that
bead with Vaseline, and lowering the lid onto the caulk--and leaving it
there for a long time (preferably a month) until the caulk had cured. Then
remove the lid and clean up the Vaseline--and you'll have a good seal when
the lid is placed on the dish    The dish is then filled with about an
inch of clean sand, and the sand is  saturated with water. I then made a
frame out of 3/4" thick wood, which   just fits in the dish on top of the
sand, and stapled fiberglass screen  tightly across the frame. Some PDB is
placed on the sand under the screen  to retard the growth of mold. I
usually place 5x8" file cards over the  screen, and then place butterflies
in their glassine envelopes on the  cards without overlapping the
envelopes. After say 8 hours I take the  specimens out of the envelopes
(they are no longer so brittle that this  is a problem) and place them on
top of their envelopes (so as not to  get the data on the envelopes mixed
up) for the remainder of the day to  day-and-a-half needed to relax the
specimens.    	The large area of water, and the good circulation within
the  relaxer, result in reliable fast relaxing. Mold is no problem.
This may seem like a lot of trouble to go through for relaxing,  but the
setup has to be made only once. When one is spreading tens of  thousands
of specimens, anything that speeds relaxing and makes the  specimens come
out of the relaxer in good shape is worth it. And even  for smaller jobs
such a setup makes life easier... A smaller dish with  a similar setup
would be fine for small occasional relaxing jobs, as  long as you maintain
the single non-overlapping layer of specimens.    	I have run into a
few problems with material sent to me from  other collectors, which
require extra time in the relaxer. I have no idea  what is involved here.
Maybe the fact that I use ethyl acetate as a kil-  ling agent is relevant.
My own papered material, even when over 30 years  old, relaxes within the
times mentioned above. The indoor climate here  in Fairbanks is _very_ dry
(at least in the winter), so the papered  specimens are dry, and have been
kept dry. Any chemicals which denature  proteins will, of course, make
specimens difficult (or impossible?) to  relax--so don't allow anything
like formaldehyde near papered material.
 
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 Remove the specimen/s from the freezer, unwrap and leave at room
temperature for 6 - 12 hours. Make up the following relaxing fluid:    10%
by volume Methylated Spirits (96% Ethanol)  90% by volume Water    Relax
the specimen for 2 - 3 days (depending on size). Don't over  saturate the
specimen with moisture; they can be too relaxed and can be  difficult to
set. The ethanol kills the bacteria in the air & water,  thus preventing
mould growth.    If it's urgent, heat the solution as hot as you can and
use a syringe to  inject 5 cc of fluid into the specimen. Hold the thorax
between your  thumb and forefinger, head to you. Insert the needle tip at
45 degrees  through the "chest" until the needle tip is adjacent to the
wing root  muscles and then slowly commence to inject. You've got it right
when the  fluid starts to leak out of the lung vents on either side of the
thorax.  It may also emerge from the genital area. Set the specimen as you
usually do.    Option:Carefully, paint a 50/50 solution of PVH wood
glue/water at the  juncture of the underside of the wing root and thorax,
to ensure the  wings will not subsequently move, due to humidity variation
in the  future, then set the specimen as normal.    WARNING: Don't be
sloppy with the glue or you might inadvertently glue  the specimen to the
setting board! I've done it and it's no fun losing a  specimen.    Allow
10 days at room temperature & no more than 60% humidity, to dry  the
specimen, before removing from the setting board. Then paint the  antennae
with the diluted glue solution. It helps prevent subsequent  accidental
breakage of antennae.      For 'normal' and larger specimens I have had
good results with soaking the  head, antennae and thorax in
simmering/boiling water on the kitchen stove.  Combined with drying in the
oven it is dry bug to dry spread specimen in  less than 2 hours, presto,
amazo.  For small blues etc, the high humidity  route is preferred. 
 
 
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 My relaxing experience is pretty limited for a number of reasons.  ( I
have probably mounted about 10,000 specimens (moths and butterflies)
during the past 30 years).  Mould is not one of my problems.  One of the
things I have done to prevent mould have included the use of phenol in the
relaxing jar to prevent fungal growth.  Stinks.  may discolour the
specimens.  But can be done if the specimens are left in the jar for more
than 24 hours.  Sometimes can get away with 48 hours but best plan is to
only put enough specimens in the relaxing jar that can be mounted in the
time you have tomorrow.      Secondly, I have replaced the water in the
relaxing jar with boiling water every 5 or 6 hours to raise the
temperature and increase the relative humidity quickly.  Most moths relax
quickly and are ready within a day or less.  No mould.  But, the downside
is that the specimens may get wet and then discolour or scales may cake.
>From my experience, I hate relaxing for these reasons.  I try and mount
anything I collect within 24 hours.      Also, what type of container are
you storing your specimens in while in the refrigerator (freezer)?  If in
something that seals well (e.g. Tupperwear), then specimens keep well and
do not dehydrate in the newer frost-free refrigerator and all you have to
do is thaw out (15 minutes) and then mount.   If in a cheaper container
that does not seal well (such as margarine or sour cream containers)
relaxing may be necessary.  The main reason I hate trying to mount frozen
specimens is that I always seem to have trouble with the joints at the
wing-thorax interface.  The wings just do not want to spread and have a
tendency to twist.    Thus, my reluctance to freeze in the first place.
I can only make some suggestions of things that I have discovered.  I have
a hunch there are as many ways to relax specimens as there are collectors
out there.  Good luck.  Hope you get some good ideas that work for you      				
 
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 I use a tupperware tray (with a tight-fitting lid), a damp paper towel,
and  a moth ball or two. I sit the relaxer on a table in the sun. The moth
balls  seem to hold down the mold.      						

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 Also, a small amount of Chlorocresol will prevent molding in you relaxing
chamber.  Good luck,  As an added note, if you have relaxed specimens and
then cannot immediately  spread them, just store them in the deep freeze.
As they are spread within a  couple weeks, they will still be relaxed when
you thaw them.        

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Thanks, Doug