So I am still on a holiday for a few more days, and last week I found an amazing dead insect (while I was actually chasing a snake). It was already dead, but still in perfect condition, so I decided that I want to bring it home and preserve it. But how do you actually do that?
Generally there are two types of insects, soft-bodied and hard-bodied. Soft-bodied insects will rot when you do nothing with them, so they need a little more work to preserve, while most hard-bodied insects stay intact when you do nothing with them. This is because of the exoskeleton they have, for example beetles, moths and butterflies. Catterpillars however are soft-bodied.
Here is the insect that I found:
This is a male Alpen Longhorn beetle. I really like his bright blue colour, and his long antenna's. I found this specimen already dead, but If you see an insect that you really want to preserve, but is still alive, you are going to have to kill it. I don't like doing that, but I will tell you a humane method.
To kill an insect, without the insect having much pain, you need to create a killing jar. It is best to use a jar, with an opening big enough to fit the insect in easily. On the bottom of the jar, you need to put some absorbment material, for example cotton. These cotton cloth's need te be soaked with ethyl acetate. After this, you need to place some cardboard over the cotton, so the insect doesn't stick to the cotton, but stays on the cardboard. Put your insect in the jar, close the top, and wait untill it doesn't move anymore. Now, you have killed the insect painlessly.
So now to preserve the insect. Soft-bodied insects need to be preserved in either rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer. Fill a jar with the liquid, enough to put the insect completely under, and put the insect in it. Basically, that is all. The insect will be preserved. Make sure to handle the insect gently so you won't break any parts of the insect.
Hard-bodied insects need to be dried out for a couple of days. After this, you can pin them down with insect pins. These special pins can be bought at any hobby store, where you can also buy foam to pin them into. You can use any type of foam, as long as the pin stays in the foam, so your insect won't fall out.
If you have the pins, you need to pin the insect through the thorax. The thorax is the middle section of your insect.
Push the pin through the insect for 2/3 of the length of the pin, so you can take it out of the foam as well, without touching the insect, so you wont harm it. After this, push the pin in the foam, and place the foam in a closed box. If you're planning on getting a big collection, it is wise to buy a display box to put your insects in like this:
Good luck if you are going to try it out, and if you like this article, please upvote, resteem and follow. Thanks!
Sources:
https://www.extension.umn.edu/youth/mn4-H/projects/environment/entomology/collecting-and-preserving-insects/
http://www.wikihow.com/Preserve-Insects
http://www.yourdictionary.com/thorax
https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/insect-display-and-storage-showcase-6885445012.html
Awesome beetle!!! I guess i won't have the courage to put it on my hand XD
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You may have a look here to know more about it :D
Hi there, so good to see another biologist here, feel free to join us at the steem chat
https://steemit.chat/channel/steemSTEM