Butterfly neck-wringer

[Grkovich, Alex]

I frequently have the same problem; only I simply use an insect pin (or
pins) to rotate the head and position it. I find that if I rotate the head
and hold it in position with the pin for a few moments, it will usually stay
reasonably in position. If it wants to rotate back, then a pin placed so as
to keep the head in position usually does the trick.

Antennae are so easily broken off that I do not make an effort to get them
"perfect", only "good enough".

Alex

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Kenelm Philip [SMTP:fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu]
> Sent:	Friday, October 04, 2002 4:09 AM
> To:	leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> Subject:	Butterfly neck-wringer
> 
> 
> 	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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