Avoiding condensation

[BugEZ]

My studio is in my basement and a dehumidifier keeps it dry enough so that mold does not form on the walls. When I have condensation on my subjects, it is not stable and tends to evaporate. As the droplets evaporate, the combination of surface tension forces and changing mass can cause legs or antenna to shift a bit and can occasionally ruin a stack.

I have found that I can eliminate condensation (if desired) by allowing the subject to thaw in the same sealed container that it was stored/frozen in. I open the container about 15 minutes after pulling it out of the freezer. That gives the thin plastic container and the contents time to reach room temperature.

I usually use super glue to attach a convenient handle to my subject. It helps me get a good glue joint if the outside surface of the bug is dry. I discovered the "thaw in the container" trick by accident.

This you tube video, (link below) though not part of a stack shows how surface tension forces change as water evaporates and can displace the subject.

Kind regards,

Keith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCHxmslOYjk&feature=plcp

[genera]

Very nice. That was quite an ending.

It's remarkable how still it stayed after the water evaporated

[ChrisR]

Worth the wait!
I wonder is there's communication between them...

What do you use to make the video/titles, Keith?

[BugEZ]

ChrisR wrote:"What do you use to make the video/titles?"

I use Windows Movie Maker which is a free program bundled into the Windows XP operating system. I have also used the Windows Live Movie Maker (also free). It replaces the Windows Movie Maker with an online version as there is no Windows Movie Maker in Windows 7. The "live" version supports a few additional file types if you are importing movie clips. Both programs are relatively easy to use. A key bit is figuring out how to change the default 7 sec per frame for the JPG input files into .1 or .05 sec per frame.

ChrisR also asked:"I wonder is there's communication between them?"

Stink bugs lay their eggs in masses. There appears to be some sort of communication as the hatch is usually synchronized. This is reported by others

http://wiki.pestinfo.org/wiki/Environmental_Entomology_(1985)_14,_562-567


Squash bugs which are similar Heteroptera that also lay eggs in clusters are not nearly as synchronous. I have observed a cluster that took 2 days to hatch compared to the stink bugs where all the eggs hatched in about 30 minutes.

Keith

Edited due to technical difficulties with the reply editor... Can't get the URL stuff quite right