Storing & Relaxing Beetles

[NikonUser]

There has been some discussion recently on this topic.
In my opinion, the process has been made to be far more complex than necessary. I proposed simply storing the beetle in a dry state; then when needed for photography just submerse it in water for 24 hrs, arrange the legs etc. on a foam sheet, use pins to hold in position, let dry, photograph.

Sounds simple in theory so I gave it a try (although I knew the answer). Found a dried-up, curled-up, dead Black Vine Beetle in a vial in the garage (entomologists/collectors can always can find forgotten insects in mislaid vials).

Top: the beetle, not left long enough to dry out so that there was some movement of the antenna and legs.
Bottom: closeup showing that the hairs had not been effected by the treatment.


NU10100
Works OK for shiny beetles as well:

NU10110

[realjax]

So, how hairy can the specimen be before it does become a problem (if ever) ?

[ChrisR]

Would you expect the wing parts, and mouthparts, to move freely as well? It was some "jaws" I managed to break off

[ChrisR]

"Jaws" wouldn't be right - I mean these bits:

[NikonUser]

So, how hairy can the specimen be before it does become a problem (if ever) ?

I'm not familiar with how hairy a beetle can be, the ones I have seen are rarely hairy. I would expect there would never be a problem.
The only remote problem would be if the water somehow 'loosened' any oils and fats and these became deposited on the hairs causing the hairs to stick together. Again easily solved by rinsing the beetle in several changes of acetone. First arrange the legs and antennae while the beetle is relaxed. Then when dry it can be submerged in acetone for several hours without any harm. Hairs will sometimes stick together after acetone treatment but the hairs can be separated ("fluffed-up") with a fine paint brush and/or puffs of hair.
I have degreased and cleaned many moths, butterflies, and tabanid flies with acetone and brush/air blasts. Moths will withstand many days treatment in acetone; flies usually clean up in minutes.

Chris: looks like you may need the "Jaws of Life" to open those up.
Alternatively, inject warm water into the mandibular muscles; should be able to get a needle into the base where the mandibles articulate.
Simple soaking in water will not work. The beetle would likely rot before enough water would get to the mandibular muscles.

[ChrisR]

Anyone make hydraulic tweezers?

[svalley]

I have been having good luck with a combination cleaning/relaxing technique.

If I want to clean a pinned specimen:

1. Remove labels from pin and force the pin through a piece of balsawood (10mm thick by 40x40mm) until the appendages or ventral side is almost touching the wood.

2. Float the balsa with the specimen hanging down in a container of non-sudsing ammonia cleanser for 10 minutes or so (overnight or longer to relax).

3. Place the specimen (still hanging down from balsa) in a small ultrasonic cleaner filled with 50/50 ammonia/water solution. If there is a lot of stuck on debris I use a fine sable paintbrush to loosen several times during this process. 30 minutes in the ultrasonic usually does the trick.

4. Remove the specimen from ultrasonic and place in a container of ethanol for 2-3 minutes, gently swishing it around.

5. Place in a second bath of reagent grade ethanol (95%) for 5 minutes.

6. Place in a bath of acetone for 5 minutes.

7. Inpect the specimen carefully the see if more cleaning is necessary.

7. Withdraw pin and specimen from balsa and insert into foam pinning board. Position appendages and use pins to brace them. I dry my specimens near the exhaust of a fume hood and it usually only takes a couple hours.

This method removes most loose debris trapped by hairs and it also dissolves many resins and other sticky substances that may have seeped out of specimens that are many years old. Other solvents may be tried also.

I have 3 very fine sable artist's brushes (00, 000, and 7/0) that are great for cleaning small areas with ammonia or ethanol.

I also like several small probes made from 2mm diameter wood dowls with minutin insect pins inserted in the end. Cleaning the minutin gently between thumb and forefinger with give it a static charge that is great for removing small individual specks of debris.

Steve

[ChrisR]

Sorry for a possibly dumb question, but is there anything special about ethanol? We can't buy the stuff, though IPA and Acetone we can.
("Exhaust of fume cupboard" gives away your environment - I can use a CPAP machine!)

[NikonUser]

Chris: I think I can legitimately butt in here.
For 4: I would simply rinse in several changes of water and then go straight to acetone. Acetone is miscible with water. Cannot see any reason for the alcohol wash but stand to be enlightened.

[OzRay]

From the water point of view, would distilled water be better than tap water? We've got pretty clean tap water here, but it has added fluoride and you always get some muck now and again.

Cheers

Ray

[svalley]

Ray, tap water should be fine.

NU, I use alcohol to help dissolve some of the resins that are on the specimens (I am mostly dealing with wood boring insects) and also to start the drying process and to keep my acetone from becoming saturated with water.

Chris, Isopropyl or methanol should work fine. I use ethanol because that is what we have available in our lab and it is the preferred type for specimens that require long term storage in alcohol.

I experiment quite a bit because no single method works for every specimen.

With some hairy specimens this technique makes them look like a cat that just went through a whole cycle in a clothes dryer.

Steve

[NikonUser]

NU, I use alcohol to help dissolve some of the resins that are on the specimens (I am mostly dealing with wood boring insects) and also to start the drying process and to keep my acetone from becoming saturated with water.
With some hairy specimens this technique makes them look like a cat that just went through a whole cycle in a clothes dryer.

Steve

Sorry Steve I can't follow your reasoning, unless you are saying that alcohol dissolves resins better than acetone dissolves resins. Yes?
The alcohol will get equally saturated with water. For the acetone, simply use fresh acetone for each wash - acetone is reasonably inexpensive.

Hairy specimens that are thoroughly degreased/de-resined will fluff up nicely with a hair dryer; low heat and at a distance.

[svalley]

NU, the alcohol does seem to disolve some of the resins better than acetone alone. On some specimens we have also used paint thinner and white gas.

The reason I use 2 alcohol rinses is the first removes the ammonia and water and the second is for residual water and resin. Prolonged submersion in acetone will make the specimens very rigid so for overnight soaks to get really stubborn residues I position the specimen on the balsa block with pins first.

I have not tried the hair dryer here at work but have used it on acetoned dragonflies on tropical trips. It should work great on hairy specimens here also.

Steve

[rjlittlefield]

With some hairy specimens this technique makes them look like a cat that just went through a whole cycle in a clothes dryer.

I recently had to clean this Lion Beetle (Ulochaetes leoninus), which had gotten greasy/resinous and had badly matted hairs after its trip home in an ethyl acetate fumes killing jar. It took multiple trips through an ultrasonic cleaner using several different solvents (water with detergent, IPA, acetone), before the hairs got clean enough to be workable. The experience was a bit frustrating because I couldn't tell whether the beast was clean until it was also dry again each time.

Anyway, even after it was clean the hairs stubbornly remained clumped in air flow and CO2 stream. They did eventually yield to brushing with a fine artists brush, clipped short.

The two illustrations are 1) live at time of collection and 2) after degreasing and hair fluffing. There is still some loose debris that I didn't take time to remove for this technique photo.

--Rik

[robirdman]

What ultrasonic cleaner is recommended?