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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 30, 2018 9:24:31 GMT -8
I usually do a better job at spreading butterflies myself anyways Where about in Canada you reside, I am in Toronto/Mississauga for most part of the year, it would be interesting to meet fellow members here. Come to the Montreal Insect Show! (it it comes back this year..last year it was cancelled)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2018 9:53:16 GMT -8
Could it be a certain charaxes?
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Post by beetlehorn on Mar 30, 2018 11:34:00 GMT -8
On the rare occasion I do get an already prepared specimen, I oftentimes end up re-hydrating the specimen, and reset it to my liking. Sometimes the wings are not symmetrical, the antennae need attention, but more often the wings are not set at the proper height. Insect fairs are nearly non-existent in my neck of the woods. Insect collecting is definately not a mainstream activity here, so buying or trading prepared specimens only applies to ebay transactions for me. on the opposite I've never bought a prepared/set specimen on ebay. Isn't there a greater risk of damage in the mail that way? I can't imagine how specimens make it intact I once wondered about this as well.Amazingly most things that are pinned come through quite intact. I usually get specimens that are mounted in riker mounts, and oftentimes removing them from the padding material can cause damage if legs get caught, or wings stick to the glass, or antennae break after getting entangled in the polyfill. Many years ago riker mounts had real cotton backing, and this was much less of a problem then.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2018 11:55:47 GMT -8
Last christmas, as a present to myself for being a good boy I ordered a pair of papilio buddha, a female prepona werneri and papilio manlius male all as set specimens, I must admit to being a little tense as I awaited their arrival, to my great relief they were all intact and as beautiful as I imagined them to be but it's not good for the nerves.
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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 30, 2018 13:43:13 GMT -8
on the opposite I've never bought a prepared/set specimen on ebay. Isn't there a greater risk of damage in the mail that way? I can't imagine how specimens make it intact I once wondered about this as well.Amazingly most things that are pinned come through quite intact. I usually get specimens that are mounted in riker mounts, and oftentimes removing them from the padding material can cause damage if legs get caught, or wings stick to the glass, or antennae break after getting entangled in the polyfill. Many years ago riker mounts had real cotton backing, and this was much less of a problem then. I don't have these problems even with recent Riker mounts (broken antennaes, wings sticking to the glass) , but you have to be careful how you place specimens and cut a slot to place the body or the specimen might bend out of shape or not hold it's position. It's true the old one with softer cotton filling were better. Is there any place that still sells them that way? As for legs, I try to be careful, but most of the time a few fall off in the setting process anyways when I hold the thorax to open up the wings properly. If my collection had to have all intact legs I'd probably go crazy. I already can't tolerate a chip on a wing. To me no chip, no rubs and intact antennae = A1 even if a few legs are missing by the way this happened when I bought a mounted specimen in a Riker mount and it was destroyed in shipping. A nice P.paris with blue spots!(never saw another one like it) Attachments:
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Post by beetlehorn on Mar 31, 2018 6:15:24 GMT -8
That's a shame. I'm sorry for your misfortune. Perhaps all is not lost. Looks to me like you could repair the majority of it with some careful reconstruction.
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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 31, 2018 9:36:52 GMT -8
well thanks for your support. Here's what I had to spread so I hope you understand the stress .Everything went perfectly
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Post by trehopr1 on Mar 31, 2018 12:59:39 GMT -8
Beautiful condition specimen! Superb spreading job and an understandably stressful item. Did it relax out nicely by itself or did you have to coax it along in some manner?
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Post by lordpandarus on Mar 31, 2018 13:54:43 GMT -8
well, those big butterflies never "fully relax" like they were freshly killed
I can tell it's ready when the body is bouncy because it's humid and moist. Then I slowly pry it open with the back of my nail against the wing joint to make sure it opens properly and I won't get bent shoulders later
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Apr 1, 2018 3:24:56 GMT -8
When I mount dried paper specimen or Large papered specimen from my freezer, I relax them for 24 hours. I remove them from the relaxer and envelope and cut the wing muscles with a small surgical scalpel. 99.9% of the time this works well for me.
However, every once and a while, you get one that does not want to cooperate. I occasionally say a bad word or two, then I will cut the wing muscles second time.
If all else fails, trash time, next specimen, and that is extremely rare.
Some of you are preparing expensive specimens you purchase. That is not a problem I have or will ever have.
I cannot mount nor will I live long enough to mount all that I have collected and are currently in one of two freezers.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2018 3:48:02 GMT -8
A couple of injections into the thorax with tepid water plus 24 hours in the relaxer makes most specimens 100% pliable but there is always the odd exception, usually rare and expensive.
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Post by lordpandarus on Apr 1, 2018 4:13:18 GMT -8
I've never been good at injecting butterflies
Sometimes I rub in a droplet of water with my finger on the side of the body and repeat a few times (not close to the wings).At least some water gets abosorbed
that's what I did with this one
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2018 4:50:19 GMT -8
I recently set a pair of prepona brooksiana and 2 male diaziana, like charaxes big, powerful butterflies with strong wing muscles, after injecting twice and leaving for about 30 hours in the relaxer they were so pliable they almost set themselves, much to my relief, had they offered any resistance it would have been a buttock clenching job given that I was never likely to acquire them again.
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Post by Paul K on Apr 1, 2018 5:25:19 GMT -8
Indeed some of the specimens are very flexible but I suppose because of partial muscle damage by decomposing process which already started. I don’t know how but some of the butterflies I collected and dry in the same day ( same species ) have partially decomposed interior and the same species which dried next to each other is perfectly fine. I guess it must be due to the moist/water stored in particular individual. Anyhow the exterior parts and genitalia are intact so the specimens don’t lose the scientific value I believe.
I just want to add that the percentage of effected specimens this way is very small and they actually become completely dry at the end.
Paul
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Post by trehopr1 on Apr 1, 2018 18:21:11 GMT -8
inachisio65, the comment in the last sentence of your previous post is absolutely "priceless" .... I'll have to recall that statement every time I work on something rare or expensive. O'h maybe not cause I'll surely screw it up then.😂
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