The enemy ants

[Patrick Foley]

One odd trick I used to deal with ants in the tropics while spreading 
leps is this.

I was carrying a Celestron 90 spotting scope case made of a flexible 
plastic. I used this case to carry 2 of the standard insect boxes. They 
fit perfectly in the case, and they were well protected. And the case is 
very light.

So when ants started in on my spreading boards, I put the boards in the 
case, in the sun. This dried out the specimens and protected them from 
the ants, but allowed moisture to escape.

So my prescription for travelers is one Celestron 90 case (Adorama web 
site), 2 insect boxes (Bioquip) and two or three spreading boards.

Patrick
patfoley at csus.edu



Grkovich, Alex wrote:

> I have had one very bad expeience with ants...so I'm more careful now...My
> boards are in a large clear plastic container, with the lid sealed with
> weatherproofing...lucky that I didn't lose anything too valuable...but I did
> lose a very nice Hybrid Admiral (astyannax/arthemis)...
>    Alex
> 
> 
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From:	Stanley A. Gorodenski [SMTP:stan_gorodenski at asualumni.org]
>>Sent:	Wednesday, November 12, 2003 11:38 AM
>>To:	Dr. James Adams
>>Cc:	TILS-leps-talk at yahoogroups.com; TILS-moth-rah at yahoogroups.com;
>>leps-l at lists.yale.edu
>>Subject:	Re: [moth-rah] why I prefer moths from Steve Johnson
>>
>>I had a similar problem once. I think it was a cricket or crickets that 
>>did it. They are really vicious animals, at least in Arizona. Now I put 
>>my boards either in the oven or in a plastic bag.
>>
>>Dr. James Adams wrote:
>>
>>
>>>this far north.  The only drawback was that when I went to take the 
>>>specimen off the boards . . . AAAHH, something had *eaten* most of it. It
>>
>>>was the only moth on the board that was touched (isn't this one of the 
>>>axiom's of Murphy's Law?). I don't think it was a mouse -- there are no 
>>>other indications that it was something that large and I believe it would
>>
>>>have eaten a number of other things on the board. My guess is something 
>>>like a house centipede (Scutigiera sp.). There was a head and just enough
>>
>>>thorax left to glue back to the pin and give me something to glue the
>>
>>wings 
>>
>>>to. Yeah, all four wings came through in reasonably decent shape. Oh
>>
>>well, 
>>
>>>at least I still have an *identifiable* specimen -- as I mentioned above,
>>
>>>it is my only one from Georgia.
>>>
>>> 
>>>
>>
>>
>> 
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