Repair a Papilio wing

[Borja Gómez]

Hello

I've been searching in the old forum and here in the new one some thread about repairing a broken Papilio tail. If there is some information, I didn't was very sharp finding it. This is because I have 2 Papilio machaon with broken tails but otherwise in perfect state, and I was thinking about make some repairing using tails of other specimens of lesser quality I have. P.machaon is very common here so why bother? you migth ask yourself... Well, all the machaons I breed by myself have a very pale yellow in his wings, so for having a good quality specimen I have to catch them with the net. But precisely the two best specimens I catched have the tails problem. And I have many other wild specimens but with scratches proper of their hilltoping territoy defending behaviour.
So, any one can show me some repair technique, or tell me a place where I can learn it? Thanks a lot.

Regards

[Deleted]

I do it in two ways depending on size of repair and the particular situation.

With a general tail repair with a normal-sized piece, I cut the replacement a tad larger than spot being onto and glue it from underneath with a pre-made mixture of 50% Elmer's Glue and 50% Isopropyl alcohol. This glue is nice because it dries slowly so one has time to adjust if needed and when it dries, only the thinnest film of glue does the job (less shows....if any).

If the tail is very thin like in O. paradisea/O. meridionalis, I glue a single piece of stiffer-than-limp paintbrush hair on the underside from the base of the repair spot outward to where the replacement tail will go. After it is dried (a few minutes), dab it with the same glue mixture on the top that extends out from the wing where the replacement piece will go and simply rest the replacement piece ontop of the hair. Not much glue is ever needed...use tiny drops.

This is done with a fully mounted dried specimen, for relaxing it later would undo the glue job.

Anytime repairs are done/tried for the first time, practice on a non-essential specimen

Hope this helps. Good luck and do tell us all how things worked out.

[Borja Gómez]

Hello

I followed your tips, and I think the results were good. I practised first with some iphiclides podalirius, because I have more of them than machaons, and those two are the unique Papilionidae with tails in Spain (We also have Parnassius apollo, P. mnemosyne and Zerynthia rumina, but those don't have tails). I cut the tails a bit oversized for the posterior overlapping underneath and the results were quite acceptable. Not perfect but almost. The thing is that I used instead of the elmer's glue and alcohol mixture (I don't know where to buy those in my country), an acrilamide glue which dries very fast and leaves a bit of a noticeable white transparent mark. Despite the fast work and the small mark, the results were good since I'm not an extreme perfectionist and those aren't a Papilio homerus or something like that
Anyway thanks for your time.

Regards

[saturniidave]

Elmers glue is the same as any 'white' PVA type woodworking or craft glue. I use it for everything and can buy a big bottle cheaply at my local craft store.