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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Mar 17, 2012 22:03:06 GMT -8
Well, it is finally that time of the year again. I can now restart the newfound hobby that I had just gotten into when last season ended. There is one issue that I was encountering last season that I had forgotten about though. I set up my poor excuse for a lightsheet for the first time tonight and set out collecting. When I got back to my house, I discovered that everything in my jar was soaked with condensation. Beetles and larger moths tend to dry out unscathed, but smaller moths stick to the side of the jar and are destroyed. I tried using tissue in the bottom of the jar last year, but the sides of the jar still stayed soaked. How do yall set up killjars? Mine is a glass candle jar with plaster in the hollow of the lid to hold a killing agent. I have tried acetone, rubbing alcohol, and tonight it was denatured alcohol.
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Post by nomihoudai on Mar 18, 2012 2:21:00 GMT -8
Have you prepared the killing jar in your house (high temperature) and then got outside with them? Then the air inside the jar will loose it's humidity. I usually add the killing agent in my jar when I am in the field (ethyl acetate) and I also have a paper towel to clean them one time before using then. After that I should usually be safe from condensation inside the jar.
In the beginning when I started to collect I also had condensation sometimes which screwed up some specimens as they stick to the jar.
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Post by prillbug2 on Mar 18, 2012 6:10:48 GMT -8
I place a piece of paper towel in the bottom, and over that a thick wad of cotton. The paper towel acts as a blotter when I add the ethyl acetate in the field. I never get condensation, and my jars are perfect killing machines.
Jeff Prill
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Post by Chris Grinter on Mar 18, 2012 6:42:41 GMT -8
I think part of your problem is killing agent - you need to switch to Ethyl Acetate and only EA. Denatured alcohol, acetone and rubbing alcohol are all pretty terrible for lepidoptera. Purchase some acetate from BioQuip and your insects will be dispatched 50x faster. You should also keep beetles and leps separate since beetles are slower to die, mangle leps in a jar, and then get covered in scales.
And as Jeff says, you should slowly add your acetate over the night with a dropper and not all at once. Too much EA in a jar will condense and ruin small things. You have to work on keeping a perfect balance between enough EA to kill specimens but not enough to condense. Usually every 7/8th time you open the lid it might need another drop or two.
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Post by Khalid Fadil on Mar 26, 2012 5:54:33 GMT -8
Only up till October last year did I depend on killing jars. Since then, I just pinch/inject everything. Lightens up my load an awful lot, too... I do use a cyanide jar for the really small stuff or specimens which are just too beautiful to physically handle, though.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Mar 26, 2012 17:53:00 GMT -8
I could kick myself now. I was going to follow the advice here and get some ethyl acetate. I put together an order at bioquip and forgot the EA. I submitted the order last night and didn't remember the main reason for my order until this afternoon. Now I have to wait until I have enough money to put together another full order before I get the stuff. I just cannot justify $8 shipping for a single bottle of EA.  |
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Post by timsbugs on Mar 26, 2012 21:10:03 GMT -8
Just send Bio Quip an email. I have never had the experience where they were able to ship an order in a few weeks little own a few days.
Tim
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Post by Chris Grinter on Mar 27, 2012 0:09:26 GMT -8
Give call them tomorrow - the company is family run and everyone is really nice. Never really had a problem!
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