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Post by clinton9 on Oct 3, 2015 14:36:56 GMT -8
Hi members, For 200 past years the collectors collected lepidoptera, and some butterflies and moths became greasy as aenetus moths and larger hepialidae, saturniidae and larger moths, ornithoptera, morphidae, papilionidae butterflies. Grease in abdomens of lepidoptera, were big annoyance for collectors and recently the members here. Due to this website limits numbers of photos to 5 photos, I have to make several topics, with numbers 1 to 6.   1st & 2nd photos: Tools: scissor, brush and tweezers, cotton, trace paper, box of pins, and mounting board.  3rd photo: A trace/kitchen paper for keep fats away from wings. (above the small yellow-handle screwdriver) I used this small yellow-handled screwdriver for scraping the fats out of abdomen.  4th photo; lay the moth (male aenetus virescens) on board.  5th photo: firstly pin the body to hold the body steady onto board/mounting board, then wrap the trace paper over abdomen. Be careful not to damage the wings. Two pins to sides of thorax. |
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Post by cabintom on Oct 3, 2015 22:35:40 GMT -8
Sorry, in the future, you really need to put all of your posts like these in a single thread (just make an new thread, with your original post, and then reply to it after that)... it's quite hard to follow otherwise, and will lead to people posting all over the place (if they bother), which does not encourage discussion.
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Post by clinton9 on Oct 4, 2015 2:38:43 GMT -8
cabintom, this website do not allow more than 5 photos per topic.
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Post by nomihoudai on Oct 4, 2015 8:13:20 GMT -8
5 photos per post, you can reply with more photos afterwards.
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Post by cabintom on Oct 4, 2015 10:05:21 GMT -8
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Post by cabintom on Oct 4, 2015 10:13:48 GMT -8
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Post by cabintom on Oct 4, 2015 10:20:28 GMT -8
That said, I haven't personally had issues with greasy leps, though I do wonder what other folks think of this (long?) process.
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Post by clinton9 on Oct 5, 2015 0:23:58 GMT -8
cabintom,
Thankyou very much for your help, next time I will do posting, then replying so I make one topic, with more photos than 5 photos instead of several topics.
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Post by beetlehorn on Oct 5, 2015 4:23:31 GMT -8
So you are actually removing tissue from inside the specimen's abdomen? I have never done this, although I have gotten Morphos with the abdomens completely removed, in order to avoid the greasing issue. You are right about this being a frustrating problem. I usually just soak the whole specimen in an acetone bath, then let it air dry. In many cases though, this causes wing tips to curl, and in moths the thoracic hair looks matted down. So then rehydrate the specimen, remount it and use a fine brush to fluff out the hairs a bit. Hemileucas and female Fritillaries seem to be the most troublesome for me. Tom
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Post by ornithorchid on Oct 7, 2015 16:32:46 GMT -8
I believe this tedious process was already applied to O. alexandrae (need to find the paper or pictures). Time consuming but worth the effort for super expensive or highly valuable specimens.
Emmanuel
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cyane
Junior Member
Posts: 47
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Post by cyane on Oct 8, 2015 4:29:45 GMT -8
This is an Acherontia atropos (Deaths Head Hawk Moth) caught at Looe, Cornwall, UK in 1908. It's abdomen has been dissected and the contents removed and replaced with cotton wool, presumably when it was first set. It's been in my collection for over 40 years. I have also seen an older specimen of a male Ornithoptera paradisea that had also had the contents of its abdomen removed, replaced with cotton wool and then stitched back up with silk. David Hall.    |
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Post by ornithorchid on Oct 9, 2015 14:33:50 GMT -8
All of this is very meticulous job.
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Post by compsulyx on Oct 9, 2015 21:00:12 GMT -8
Hello,
Clinton spent a lot of time to take pictures, post them on the forum and explain to us his method to prevent greasing of hepialids and other fat moths, real great job !...and most of the answers I can read are critics....."long process"...."time consumming"....wow, wow, wow.....gentlemen I just remind you that entomology is synonymous with patience.
Like Jean-Henri FABRE said in the "Souvenirs entomologiques" (1897) : "To succeed, the first condition, it is the patience"
What is a bit discouraging for Clinton I think, is to read your answers....
So I just want to THANK YOU VERY MUCH Clinton, for sharing your experience and pictures of your wonderful hepialids. I really appreciate as I also collect hepialids and I never tried this method....I will !....thanks again.
Regards
Thierry
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Post by bichos on Oct 10, 2015 23:26:01 GMT -8
Too right, thanks Clinton.
I perform a similar process and takes skill and patience. Over time ones skills improve yielding better results...
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Post by ornithorchid on Oct 11, 2015 7:47:49 GMT -8
Hello, Clinton spent a lot of time to take pictures, post them on the forum and explain to us his method to prevent greasing of hepialids and other fat moths, real great job !...and most of the answers I can read are critics....."long process"...."time consumming"....wow, wow, wow.....gentlemen I just remind you that entomology is synonymous with patience. Like Jean-Henri FABRE said in the "Souvenirs entomologiques" (1897) : "To succeed, the first condition, it is the patience" What is a bit discouraging for Clinton I think, is to read your answers.... So I just want to THANK YOU VERY MUCH Clinton, for sharing your experience and pictures of your wonderful hepialids. I really appreciate as I also collect hepialids and I never tried this method....I will !....thanks again. Regards Thierry Yes I said 'time consuming' 'meticulous' and? Is there anything in this that could have a negative connotation? No really. It is just 'time consuming' and 'meticulous' job that requires someone's expertise, passion and sense of PERFECTION. I do ornithoptera and also much smaller insects. For ornithoptera I make sure to work not only on the wings but also legs... For Eupholus I lift up elytra and work the wings. It takes 2-3 h for one single specimen. Emmanuel |
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