Caged ... relaxing and pinning

[AndrewC]

Useful things, pins !

This a Ph. vindex I'm busy getting ready for shooting but I thought I'd show an interim stage. This was a specimen I got off a dealer - well preserved but in a tight ball with the legs drawn in and horn flattened. The technique with specimens like this is to keep them in a humid atmosphere for 24 hours then start gently tugging extremities. If they move, you position them as you want, pin in place and then leave to dry again. If they don't, leave for another 12 hours. If they fall off, well - get a higher power lens and recycle them for close ups

Real bug collectors have it easy - they either glue the feet down (European museum technique) or stick a pin through it's back (American). I want to be able to move this around so the first step is to "cage" it and then start adding appropriate pins to position things where you want. I sometime use dental floss to lasso and pull awkward bits around. Anyways - my ever appreciative 7 yr old thought this was "way cool" so I thought I'd share:



Tech stuff:

Pins - Monarch size 3
Lens: Nikon 55mm f3.5 at f8, 30cm to subject
Lighting: Two SB-23 flashes at reduced power through a "poly tunnel"
Stack: 33x 819um, ZS

[rjlittlefield]

A lovely shot! I am amused to see that such assemblies occur on other people's benches also.

--Rik

[Harold Gough]

The technique with specimens like this is to keep them in a humid atmosphere for 24 hours then start gently tugging extremities.

If I recall correctly, crushed cherry laural leaves provide an improved atmosphere for relaxing them.

Harold

[rjlittlefield]

Just noticed, "Stack: 33x 819um"

819um seems an odd step in any units I know. Where does that come from?

--Rik

[AndrewC]

Just noticed, "Stack: 33x 819um"

819um seems an odd step in any units I know. Where does that come from?

--Rik

Ah, that's because I use an automated bench

The bench I used for this stack runs 3.2um steps - 819um is 256 steps . For simplicity in the controller I control slice depth by shifting a bit left/right in a control word - hence the 256. Next resolution down is 512steps/1638um, up is 128/410um. I originally wrote the software to control stack depth by just adding/subtracting to the number of steps but soon realised that was a PIA and doubling/halving the slice depth works and is a lot quicker to adjust.

819um slice depth is overkill for this - 1638um grabs it, as you can see in this one:



Andrew

[Peter M. Macdonald]

Lens: Nikon 55mm f3.5 at f8, 30cm to subject

So this is quite a meaty chap. Just how big is he Andrew? I assume that he is quite a bit bigger than the European Oryctes nasicornis which is the olny Rhinoceros Bettle which I have seen alive.

Peter

[ChrisR]

Isn't there a risk of mould if you use plain water to relax (condensation..)??
Hence >> eg http://www.watdon.co.uk/the-naturalists ... pment.html

[AndrewC]

Body volume is about 1cm3, I've often wondered what happens to the squidgy bits - especially when rehydrating- but it doesn't seem to be a problem. I've got a Goliath Stag somewhere which must be heading for 5cm3 volume.

Mould: I've never had a problem with it I'm not very patient and usually start tugging after 12-24 hours. It's not a good idea to soak them - I put mine on some plastic mesh over damp kitchen roll in an old ice cream tub. Also not good to leave them in there for >3 days. There are other ways of relaxing insects:

- inject boiling water into the body cavity (good for butterflies / moths)
- drop household ammonia on a joint capsule
- cyanide gas (that would be Harold's laurel leaves)
- Barbers solution which is just ethanol / acetone / ethyl acetate and water (used to contain Benzene but that gives you cancer)

.... to name just a few. Some recommend Ultrasound as a technique. I've never tried it.

[Harold Gough]

A formula for relaxing fluid:

http://www.ento.org.nz/nzentomologist/f ... 2-2-29.pdf

http://www.aseanet.org/events/bogor_sep ... (Hari).doc (copy all the preceeding and paste it into your browser) (page 12)

Also (I couldn't access enough to see if it was complete):

May (1958) "a beetle relaxing fluid contains 265 parts 95% ethyl alcohol, 245 parts distilled water, 95 parts ethyl acetate,"

(Andrew posted the next reply while I was editing).

Harold

[AndrewC]

A formula for relaxing fluid:

http://www.ento.org.nz/nzentomologist/f ... 2-2-29.pdf

Harold

Like I said, Benzene is a carcinogen. This one is a bit friendlier:

51 100% ethanol
7 acetone
19 ethyl acetate
51 water