drying specimens in humid conditions

[Grkovich, Alex]

...and watch out for pests; I lost about 10 specimens to ants on the
spreading boards about a month ago, including a beautiful Hybrid Admiral
(albofasciata; Red Spotted Purple/White Admiral) and a Hoary Edge. I now let
everything dry in a large sealed tupperware container (occasionaaly with PDB
crystals inside). Talk about being stupid.....

And, like Ron, I don't use heat; I just give it time...

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Ron Gatrelle [SMTP:gatrelle at tils-ttr.org]
> Sent:	Thursday, July 19, 2001 3:43 PM
> To:	beebuzz at kiva.net
> Cc:	Leps-l
> Subject:	Re: drying specimens in humid conditions
> 
> You do have a dilemma.  Having tried various drying techniques myself I
> will just address here for you, and those reading, a couple of pit falls
> to
> avoid.
> 
> It was really stupid on my part, but I once used wax paper as pinning
> strips and inserted the specimens into the oven. You can figure the rest.
> A
> point here is that techniques that work fine in one situation can be a
> disaster in another. I don't expect anyone to be as stupid as I, but just
> consider all possibilities before proceeding and ruining good specimens.
> No
> Styrofoam mounting boards in the heat either. Nothing that will warp,
> melt,
> bleed color, etc.
> 
> Something needs to cover the entire wings as quick drying will curl them.
> I
> rarely heat dry specimens any more. As in Liz's case, it is the big fat
> stuff we do this with. the tiny guys will dry OK on their own. The key
> word
> if FAT. It melts. You may not see it for a several months - but heat
> begins
> to break it down and greatly accelerates greasing. For me, no more
> Megathymus (Giant Skippers) in the oven. I now freeze them, slice open
> their abdomen, remove the cold contents, stuff with cotton, super glue the
> incision, and by now they have thawed and I mount them.
> 
> So my bottom line here is that I have no alternative dryer suggestion.
> Just
> a warning to all to think it through before damaging specimens. Very low
> heat is essential, drying by evaporation takes time.
> Ron
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Liz Day" <beebuzz at kiva.net>
> Subject: drying specimens in humid conditions
> 
> 
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I'm going to be mounting a lot of big fat moth specimens.  The ambient
> > humidity is around 65-85% (including indoors unless I air condition).
> This
> > is normal for summer here.  In these conditions I've found that
> bumblebees
> > rot before they dry, so big moths probably would too.   I decided this
> > could be fixed by putting the specimens in my car sitting in the sun.
> I
> > just measured the temperature in there and it's 51C (124F).   This
> should
> > be sufficient to lower the humidity enough, but I worry that the heat
> will
> > hurt the specimens in some way.  (They are not in direct sun.)   Does
> > anyone know?
> >
> > I'm also gonna try a big cardboard box with an incandescent light bulb
> in
> > it.  The specimens can go in here for a week after the initial drying in
> > the car.   Any experience/advice with this type of setup?
> >
> > (Paying to aircondition the whole apartment for two weeks to dry bugs is
> > too painful to consider.  The oven won't work either for various
> > reasons.  In the past, specimens dried well under an incandescent desk
> > light, but now there are too many of them to fit.)
> >
> > Thank you....
> >
> > Liz
> >
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------
> > Liz Day
> > Indianapolis, Indiana, central USA  (40 N, ~86 W)
> > USDA zone 5b.  Winters ~20F, summers ~85F.  Formerly temperate deciduous
> > forest.
> > daylight at kiva.net
> > www.kiva.net/~daylight
> > -------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> >
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> 
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