Keep the Color

[kiarashheshmati]

Hello Everyone,

Im looking for tricks or tips for keeping Odonata, Orthoptera, and Hemiptera the same color as if they were alive, if you notice with these orders, the colors fade and they all start too look like very similar, and what is a insect without its true colors! ?

[Deleted]

Yes, keeping these in color is indeed tough. I was fortunate enough to get a trio of Phyllium pulchrifolium in the three color forms that they come in. After years, the orange one started to lose its orange and I was very concerned. So.....I had to come up with a plan that would not compromise its natural color, seem fakey, or surely not appear altered. I did find a great way to achieve this.

I take acrylic paint and mix it with distilled water until it forms a sort-of-wash (real watery orange paint/fluid). Then I take a soft brush and give it a color brushing/wash. This is not at all thick paint, but is instead a water-color-like brushing put on it. The water carries and spreads the paint pigment over the specimen so it looks as though it is the actual body color and not 'painted on'. This is sometimes done a few times to get it right, but works great. The pic is what the orange one looks like after I did it. It is important to try to recreate the exact color which can take time. Honestly, this orange one looks just like it did years ago when I got it

btw----when one does this, it seems(sometimes) at the moment one is applying it, that it is not noticable. Give it time and don't over-do the brush/wash thing. Better to do it gradually with a couple of washes then to force it and have it come out looking blotchy or water-logged/stained.

Interestingly, I was just talking to my buddy Brad about this very thing last night. He and I both bought the trio years ago and he is interested in doing this as well.

Good luck....and....remember to always first test the method on some C4 specimen that doesn't matter

[wingedwishes]

That is very well done Bill. With odonata, I have the same troubles. I hold them in an evelope for a few days before they are dispatched so that they void their digestive system. Then I put them into 100% acetone in the freezer. The acetone slowly leeches out the oils and water. This only helps keep some of the color. Bright colors seem to turn to pastels. Of course, metallic colors stay intact. My experience has been that reds and oranges fade faster than blues or greens.

[bichos]

wwishes why would you freeze them after placng them in acetone I wonder?

well for beetles I use acetone no freezer though see the results

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[bichos]

good for odontolabis and birdwing abdomens too, it is a leaching process however, as mentioned above so it does take a few days for the acetone to do its thing

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[wingedwishes]

I use the freezer when preserving chiroptera (bats) mainly. I do this so that the flesh does not contract quickly and keeps the volume right rather than looking "stretched." I assumed the slow leach was better.