Grease stain?

[takahe]

After relaxing and pinning this Dicranocephalus wallichi developed the stain visible around the pin area. It was not there before rehydration. Is it a grease stain that will come out if the beetle is dipped in acetone (as grease stains on many bugs do) or is it something else?

I also have a Dynastor napoleon from an older collection that seems greasy. I dipped it momentarily in acetone and some of it came out, but it also relaxed a little and the wings moved. It was in a Riker mount and spread, so I just took it out of there and put a pin in it and dipped it. I'd like to degrease this specimen as it is perfect (even has all legs) but do not want to damage it because I may never get another one. I've degreased leps before this way and never experienced wings moving. Should I leave it alone or try again?

Bradleigh

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[Khalid Fadil]

As a passionate collector, I've always taught myself to take risks. If it goes wrong, you've learned something new. If it goes well, then you can take a breath of relief and enjoy your repaired specimen.

[leptraps]

Like many of you, I have used White Gas, Acetone, Ethyl Acetate and other super solvents to de-grease specimens. They all work very well but can from time to time do the unexpected. And the unexpected is always on a great specimen. And this usually results in the use of many four letter words, none of which I can write in this response.

I curate an Insect Collection at a local university (part time as I am retired), the building the collection is housed within is literally surrounded by hospitals, medical clinics and medical schools. I will not explain how I did this, but I came into the possession of not quite a gallon of Ether. Talk about a fantastic de-greaser!!

I use a 6 inch wide by 3 inch deep glass container with a glass lid. I then use the vent hood in a lab in my building. I put 3 inches of Ether into the container, place my specimen into the Ether and leave it for an hour or so. When I remove the specimen (Still under the hood), it takes seconds of the Ether to evaporate. The specimen is purrrrrrrrrrfect................

I used this process on all my Megathymus species with absolutely great results.

I use a glass funnel to recover the Ether from the containers and I keep the Ether in a refrigerator. It slows down evaporation rate when I pour it out.

If you can obtain Ether and have access to a vent hood, your greasing problems are solved.

It is also a great killing agent too.

[wingedwishes]

Not Petroleum ether I hope! I had a container of that crap explode under a desk in college. When Haz Mat took the others, the cans were just flung down a hillside where they exploded on their own.

You can get strong acetone from a home imporivement store. Many paint thinners are 100% acetone.

[takahe]

Did it actually explode and start a fire? Or did the can just burst from the fumes? I thought it was ethyl ether that could decompose into unstable peroxides and become shock-sensitive. The bomb squad removed ethyl ether from a school here many years ago for that reason.

I have a small bottle of petroleum ether (also known as ligroine) around someplace, but never used it on insects. It smells a lot like naptha and is not the same as ethyl ether. If this is the stuff you're talking about and it really can spontaneously ignite or explode, I might want to get rid of it.

Acetone is what I've used to degrease insects. It is available in hardware stores here.

Ethyl ether is not available anywhere that I know of. Petroleum ether is available from science/chemistry supply houses.


Bradleigh

[downundermoths]

...agreed, Diethyl Ether is an amazing degreaser... I have never known it to self-combust or explode, but it is extremely flammable... and a little bit addictive