Technique(s) for preserving a dragonfly

[puzzledpaul]

I happened to find a (mainly intact) dead dragonfly on our lawn this morning and would appreciate any comments / suggestions about how to preserve it / stopping further degradation.

Many thx

pp

[rjlittlefield]

Drying it is your best bet. If you just leave it indoors in a heated living space, it will gradually dry out over a period of several days. The eyes will lose their luster and the abdomen will shrink, but there's no practical way to avoid those effects.

If you like, you can arrange & prop the dragonfly into whatever pose you like, and let it dry in that pose.

--Rik

[puzzledpaul]

Thanks, Rik - no artifically heated rooms atm as we've not turned the ch back on this year - but I'll see what I can do

pp

[Planapo]

Paul, you could place your dragonfly into a jar whose bottom is covered with a layer of desiccant like silica gel or, probably easier at hand, dry washing powder, without direct contact to the specimen, of course.

For museum preparation such rather big insects like dragonflies are disemboweled and stuffed sometimes.

After it is dry I´d recommend to put the specimen in a close storage container together with mothballs or -paper. Otherwise sooner or later insects like Psocopterans or Dermestid beetles will develop an appetite for it.

Good luck,
Betty

[puzzledpaul]

Betty - Thanks for the additional suggestions - I'll try to smuggle something suitable out of the kitchen when the better half (read 90%) isn't looking

pp