drying specimens in humid conditions

[Chris J. Durden]

I have heard that the latest, cutting edge research technique is to
        cut the wings off and dry in glassine envelopes
             put the body in absolute alcohol to preserve the DNA!

As long as one is not a "stamp collector" type - this makes a lot of sense
        takes up much less space
             and removes the specimens from the clutches of ants, booklice 
and dermestids.

For drying in the tropics silica gel, freshly roasted, in a sealed tin is 
essential. There ants and mold are the biggest problems. I am opposed to 
stuffing because potentially interesting parts are lost. My father did it 
though for beetles he collected in South Africa, in the early half of the 
last century.

............Chris Durden


At 04:39 PM 7/19/2001 -0500, you wrote:
> >You do have a dilemma.
>
>Yeah.   I wonder what people do in the tropics.  A friend in North 
>Carolina claims he dries all his stuff in a frost-free refrigerator, as 
>the humidity there is simply too high to ever get anything to dry.
>
> >FAT. It melts.
>
>Yes, am planning to remove and degrease abdomens after they are dry.
>
> >.... 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.
>
>Why freeze first, why not just cut open?
>
>Liz



 
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