Butterfly neck-wringer

[Kenelm Philip]

	No, this isn't a new way to torture butterflies--just a tool to
help when spreading lep specimens.

	Sometimes when spreading relaxed specimens that have been stored
in envelopes, I find that the head has been rotated through a considerable
angle. This rotation makes arranging the antennae difficult, and getting
the head back to its normal angle can be awkward if all you can do is just
poke at it with some kind of probe (which tends to push the head sideways
as well as rotate it. And it usually requires a lot of over-rotation
before the head stays at its correct angle.

	So a couple of days ago I went down to the woodshop and cobbled up
a butterfly neck-wringer--which seems to work very well. I took a 3.25"
length of 1/8" hardwood dowel, and sawed a 1/32" kerf for 1.25 inches right
down the center from one end, using a bandsaw. Then I made a little hard-
wood wedge, which gets inserted in the kerf to spread the 'jaws' apart as
needed for any given specimen. Place the jaws under the mouthparts and over
the eyes, and then twirl the dowel between your fingers, over-rotating
the head a fair angle beyond the correct position. Hold it there for some
seconds, and pull the dowel away from the head. It may take more than one
twirl--but eventually the head will end up somewhere close to the right
position. Then you can put the specimen on the spreading board and mount it,
and the antennae will cause no problems.

	If anyone but me has run into this problem, it's an easy solution.

							Ken Philip




 
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