Rotating heads

Richard Worth rworth at oda.state.or.us
Mon Apr 16 11:40:04 EDT 2001


Mark,
  I have found pretty much everything said already to be true and do 
much the same things.  However, I rarely rotate the heads back until 
the beasts are pinned, then I use the pin method.  Careful with the 
000s because they are very springy and you can "plink" the antennae 
right off when removing them.  I just use #2s, hold my breath, and 
make sure I'm not going through any caffeine withdrawls ;-).  I had 
always heard that cyanide was the worst contributor to stiffness 
though I tend to agree that dried specimens are a little stiffer.  I 
usually relax my dried specimens more than 24 hrs anyway.
Just my $0.02.   Happy trails,  Rich

>Hi Mark,
>
>I, too freeze most everything I catch.  (The stuff I can't mount 
>immediatly anyway.)  Although many specimens do end up with a turned 
>head - I have not really had a problem with them staying that way. 
>What I do is this: let the insect thaw out for about 20 mins.  Then 
>while the wings are still folded up I check the position of the 
>head. If the head needs to be rotated I use my tongs to turn it the 
>other way.  (If the lep is large enough, I will sometimes just use 
>my fingers to do this.)  The trick, though, is to overrotate it - 
>not just turn it to the position it will finally be in.  I hold the 
>head in that overrotated position for 20 or 30 seconds so that when 
>I let it go it stays turned in that direction.  I then flex the 
>wings, insert the mounting pin, etc. and do the final spread. 
>During this time I find the head will often 'creep' back into the 
>position that it was frozen in but not nearly as far.  If everything 
>works out right - the head will often end up in the straight on 
>position.  If not - a couple of '000' pins is all it takes to hold 
>it and the antenna in position.  I do my dried leps the same way 
>after they have been in the relaxer for 24 hrs although the process 
>of overrotating the heads sometimes leaves me in a bit of a sweat. 
>(The amount of sweat depends on how much $ I spent on that insect.) 
>The heads are usually stiffer on dried insects as compared to the 
>stuff taken out of the freezer.
>
>Todd
>
>
>From: Kenelm Philip <fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu>
>Reply-To: fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu
>To: <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
>Subject: Rotating heads
>Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 16:13:50 -0800 (AKDT)
>
>
>Mark Walker asked about rotating heads of papered butterflies when spread-
>ing them. I have noticed the same problem--with papered material the head
>often ends up rotated to one side or the other, making it difficult to
>position the antennae correctly.
>
>What I do is as follows: 1) make sure the specimen is fully relaxed--
>which takes about 24 hours in my relaxer. 2) after pinning the specimen
>through the thorax, and before pinning it into the groove in the spreading
>board, inspect the head position. If the head is rotated, use a probe to
>rotate it about the same amount in the opposite direction. One or more such
>attempts will usually bring the head, after you remove the probe, to
>something close to the correct position as far as rotation goes. 3) pin
>the specimen to the board and spread.
>
>I have never had a head 'lock' into the rotated position--the head always
>rotates freely when pushed. However, I don't freeze them--I use ethyl
>acetate to kill them. Maybe something about freezing does that?
>
>							Ken Philip
>fnkwp at uaf.edu
>
>
>
>
>
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Richard A. Worth
Oregon Department of Agriculture
Plant Division
rworth at oda.state.or.us
(503) 986-6461
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