[NHCOLL-L:5977] Re: Preserving velvet-worms for display

[Couteaufin at aol.com]

I have had experience with freeze-drying whole specimens and in pickling  
but have never had to deal with onychophorans.
I would suggest that once relaxed and dead, the worms are cooled in a  
refrigerator and then injected with deionised water through some orifice to  
inflate them and then sprayed with a freezing spray to prevent the water from  
leaking out again - it may not anyway and this step can then be omitted.   
Freeze them and then freeze-dry to constant weight in the normal way.
As for pickling, I am unsure what the pink pigment comprises but I would  
suggest using Kaiserling's or Wentworth's colour preservation techniques.   I 
have found that this works well with many fugitive animal pigments and the  
preservative fluids for each should be safe for display although the 
Kaiserling  does contain glycerol which can be difficult to prevent it from 
creeping out of  the jar if it touches the lid.  
Ethanol is a great destroyer of animal and plant pigments, especially those 
 based on a tetrapyrrole structure.  
 
I hope that this helps.
 
With all good  wishes, Simon

Simon Moore MIScT, FLS, ACR,
Conservator of Natural  Sciences and Cutlery Historian,

_www.natural-history-conservation.com_ 
(http://www.natural-history-conservation.com/)  
_www.pocket-fruit-knives.info_ (http://www.pocket-fruit-knives.info/)  

_http://uk.linkedin.com/in/naturalsciencespecimenconserve_ 
(http://uk.linkedin.com/in/naturalsciencespecimenconserve)   


In a message dated 16/04/2012 04:05:11 GMT Daylight Time,  
Simon.Grove at tmag.tas.gov.au writes:

 
Colleagues 
I’m wondering if anyone can offer us some advice on how  best to 
dry-preserve velvet-worms so that we can include them in a new museum  display on 
Tasmanian natural history.  Velvet-worms (Onychophora,  sometimes known as 
peripatus) are softer-bodied than most arthropods, but  harder-bodied than 
earthworms.  They have retractile antennae and  semi-retractile ‘legs’.  The 
Tasmanian species in question (the giant  velvet-worm, Tasmanipatus barretti) is 
a delicate pink colour.  In  life they’re rather cute-looking (despite 
their predatory nature) and we’d  like them to stay that way in death. 
I suspect that ultimately they will need to be freeze-dried  to be made 
suitable for putting on display, but I am concerned that if I put  them 
straight in the freeze-drier they will retract their appendages and curl  up, and 
won’t look very impressive at all (let alone cute).  On the other  hand, if I 
relax them first (e.g. by drowning in water with menthol, then  pickle them 
in ethanol) they may go too limp and lose their colour, even if  they would 
stiffen up nicely on subsequent freeze-drying.  Either way, we  may still 
face the problem of them ‘deflating’ in the freeze-drier.  Can  anyone 
suggest fixes to these problems, or alternative means of preparation?  Perhaps 
there are standard techniques for preparing caterpillars that  could equally 
apply to velvet-worms?  Any advice will be much  appreciated. 
And to think that I got into biology because I love  animals! 
Regards 
Simon Grove 
Dr Simon  Grove 
Senior Curator, Invertebrate  Zoology 
Tasmanian Museum & Art  Gallery 
5 Winkleigh Place   
Rosny  7018 
Tasmania 
Australia 
Phone 61 3 6211  4124 
_http://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/visitor_information/about_us/locations/collectio
ns_and_research_facility_rosny_ 
(http://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/visitor_information/about_us/locations/collections_and_research_facility_rosny)  
Please note that I only work  Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in this 
position 


 
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