Pickle fork

Thomas P. LeBlanc leblanct at netsync.net
Tue Jan 8 08:11:45 EST 2002


Stan, I probably should have clarified that better.  I use to pin the
butterfly on site just after I had caught it. But this year I don't have
that advantage.   It might be an hour or two before I will be able to pin my
specimens.  I just was trying to figure out how a pickle fork was used
(reading it in Winters book).


Thomas P. LeBlanc
192 Kent Blvd., Salamanca, NY 14779
Email: leblanct at netsync.net
.
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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu]On
Behalf Of Stan Gorodenski
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2002 11:25 PM
Cc: leps-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: Pickle fork

I have not been following this closely, but I just noticed below that
you keep the butterflies in the killing jar until you are ready to mount
them.  I think this may be too long in the jar, and it may exacerbate
the problem you have, thus requiring the need for Pickle Forks.  I
always try to take my specimens out as soon as I can because I have
observed that it can cause some species (as defined by the Biological
Species Concept) to stiffen if they are in there too long.

Stan

"Thomas P. LeBlanc" wrote:
>
>      Thank you to everyone that replied to my Email regarding Pickle
Forks.
> This up coming season will be my first year using envelopes and in the
past
> I always put the butterfly (that I wanted to collect) directly into the
> killing jar from the net.  Then from the killing jar directly to the
pinning
> board.   Reading Winters  Memoirs 5 I have been learning other methods for
a
> bigger project that I plan to start this up coming season which will
involve
> me using envelopes.  So, many of these methods are new to me and I am
still
> trying to figure out why one would use some of these tools.
>
>      So the Pickle fork is just a way of holding the butterfly without
> damaging it with my big fingers!!  I didn't pick up on it going into the
> thorax and being used as a handle.  I pictured it as being a tool that
helps
> with the muscles or somehow physically helped fold the wings so you
wouldn't
> have to touch the wings.   But, Winters , et al... suggest that "IF" the
> wings fold under the specimen instead of on top of the specimen ( has
> happened to me many times) the pickle fork would then be a quicker tool
for
> flipping it around for proper placement into the envelope with the
forceps.
> Got it!!
>
>      My next question is to those that has used the pickle fork, does it
do
> damage (being you poke it into the thorax) to your specimens if you plan
on
> using it for a collection??  I would believe the more holes the hard to
> preserve for a longer timeframe.   Speaking of preserving (might not have
> reached this point in the book) but I have been told for a long time about
a
> spray that preserves the specimens from predators.  I tried to get some
from
> Ward's but they knew nothing of the kind.  Is this just the spray you
would
> get at an art store or something special I need to do some more
> investigation on?   What does this spray do to longevity of the specimens
in
> relation to just mothballs (or both spray and mothballs)?
>
>      Thank you again to all those that respond and please let me know if I
> am still in left field with the pickle fork.
>
> Thomas P. LeBlanc
> 192 Kent Blvd., Salamanca, NY 14779
> Email: leblanct at netsync.net
> .
> . °   __   °      BRRR..... °            °       °            °
> .  ° (** )        ° GO  BUILD  A           °     °            °
> . ° Ø( ‡ )Ø         SNOWMAN!!!      °   °            °
> . °  (    )   °    °    IT  IS  SNOWING  FINALY!!  °
>
>
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>
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