drying specimens in humid conditions

Who? Me? Sumairp at lycos.com
Sat Jul 21 00:54:21 EDT 2001


Here in Queensland we have similar conditions to those you describe.
This is how I have treated Attacus atlas & Coscinocera hercules, the 2
largest moths. Both have very high wax content and there are 2 ways of
treating these specimens.


1. Remove the abdomen & soak in dry cleaning liquid overnight.
Dispose thoughtfully of the used fluid, replenish the container &
immerse the abdomen again. Repeat until there is no more
diiscolorisation of the fluid. 
The discolourisation is due to the wax being leeched from within.
(Same process for treating abdomens of Morpho sp.
Glue the abdomen back onto the thorax.)

2. This is a bit trickier: Sandwich the wings between 2 lengths of HD
setting foam. Place the 'assembly' into a container in such a way as
the specimens' abdomen hangs down, with the HD foam resting on the
edge of the container. Fill the container with dry cleaning fluid
until it reaches the abdomen and a little bit morre. Capillary action
will take care of the rest. Replace fluid as descibed in 1. above.
This method is used only when removing the abdomen is impractical, but
it depends n the species. The smaller the moth the more difficult the
task.

Works for me!

Cheers, 
Chris Hocking


 
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