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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 25, 2012 13:07:29 GMT -8
ok I found some actone in the car supply section (Motomaster acetone) I got most of the grease out but some is left. I used a dropper to direct the acetone towards the edge of the wing should I dip the entire specimen and leave it for a hour or something? Attachments:
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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 25, 2012 13:07:49 GMT -8
after cleaning Attachments:
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evra
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Post by evra on Mar 25, 2012 14:21:34 GMT -8
Nice male S. diana, and you did a good job spreading it.
I usually leave a greased specimen submerged in the acetone for 18-24 hours. You'll see the acetone noticeably change color to a yellow or brown as the lipids dissolve. The problem is that acetone is extremely corrosive to pins as well. It will eat off the enamel and dissolve the nylon head. That's why I degrease mine before I spread them.
You might want to just leave it as is and consider getting a new specimen. Or you could re-relax the specimen, remove the pin, and start all over. I've heard that female S. diana have more greasing problems than males, so it's a little unusual.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2012 15:51:23 GMT -8
I've degreased female S. dianas for years and usually it only takes 3-6 hours with total submersion. I often have good results after a mere two hours. One thing I do do is to have two containers of acetone. The first bath is to start and it is 'used' from prior dippings. The second container is with clean 'virgin' acetone. After an hour so so, I put it into the second bath. This shorter time also seems to leave my pins ok. After the second container is used, it becomes my first bath when next I dip. Personally, I've never left a lepidop in acetone for 24 hours. Beetles, yes. Another (probably less popular) thing to do is remove the abdomen prior to when grease gets on the wings and dip it alone for a while. Then carefully glue it back on. I realize some out there will frown on this, but these are my thoughts and I'm sticking to 'em.  |
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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 25, 2012 16:57:58 GMT -8
Alright I'll try an extended bath
I just remove the pin and just let it sit in the acetone. The setting seems to be unaffected by it
I thought you could re-use the acetone so I put it back in the bottle. I guess I'll buy a new one
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2012 18:16:33 GMT -8
You can re-use the acetone. Just make what is used your first bath next time. It also depends on how yellowish it looks after being used.
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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 25, 2012 19:57:55 GMT -8
ok, here it is after 3 hours in an acetone bath Seems completely clean now Why does the wings stay set even if the butterfly is submerged in liquid? Attachments:
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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 25, 2012 20:00:29 GMT -8
PS . Don't let it dry on a styofoam setting board like I did above. It stuck to it and dissolved the styrofoam. Luckily only a few scales on the underside got scrapped off
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Post by nomihoudai on Mar 26, 2012 1:05:16 GMT -8
>Why does the wings stay set even if the butterfly is submerged in liquid?
Interesting question and also not that easy to answer when you take everything into effect. Easy speaking I would say that acetone, contrary to water, does not like the many salts in the butterfly. In an animals and humans body is many salts that they need for proper function.
Explaining the thing a bit further is that a liquid is solvable when a balance gets found between charges in the solvent and charges in the solution. There is polar liquids and apolar liquids that either have charges or have not got charges. Water is a very high charged liquid and very mobile as it is small, so it can get mainly in everywhere. Acetone got a smaller charge and is larger, it is therefore less mobile and cannot enter the body like water can. Nevertheless acetone is still polar and thus attracts contrary charged materials like fats. Therefore we use acetone to degrease our butterflies, cleaning petrol works in the same way and is thus another option.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2012 5:53:44 GMT -8
lordpandarus,
He came out very nice looking----good job.
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 26, 2012 16:16:31 GMT -8
One tip I would give whenever degreasing Leps is when you take them out of the bath, whatever you use, let the solvent evaporate in a slight draft. I put mine in front of a small desk fan, but not too close! Your aim is for a slight movement of the wings but not enough to damage them This allows the fringes and any hairy scales to dry properly. If you don't do this the wing fringes etc. can dry matted together and don't look so good. This is especially important with hairy moths.
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Merky
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Post by Merky on Mar 26, 2012 17:19:13 GMT -8
Always remember that acetone is not only toxic if you inhale too much, acetone is also highly flammable and the fumes can get explosive
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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 27, 2012 0:53:45 GMT -8
yeah, I was thinking when smelling it those fumes were probably toxic
So I used a container with a lid when I did the bath for my specimen
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2012 14:02:10 GMT -8
What about isopropyl alcohol. I read on the net that it isn't as harsh as acetone. I have gallons of the stuff at my shop. it seems to do well with beetles?
pete
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2012 16:38:45 GMT -8
Not sure about that Pete. I used to use trichloroethylene when it was available, now I use toluene or similar. I have even heard petrol can be used but it must be a solvent. I don't think isopropyl is a solvent.
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