(Failed) experiments with alcohol as killing agent

[exoticimports]

Since I was a kid, we used rubbing alcohol soaked paper towels to be the killing agent in our tupperware kill boxes.

It's worked well enough. Alcohol doesn't discolor, isn't very poisonous, is cheap and readily available almost anywhere worldwide, and will maintain specimens for days.

In the tropics I've used alcohol in a syringe to dispatch large insects, avoiding any damage.


*****

Lately, I took to using a jar with rubbing alcohol for beetles- drop them in, no more bother.

So, why not for leps?

It should work. Seems that occasionally some darned Sphingid wouldn't be disabled from the pinch, and Catocala were losing the thoratic "hair" despite being in envelopes.

So a drop into alcohol should solve those problems. It did.

Fail.

Oddly enough, the specimens, when removed from the alcohol, would stiffen up within minutes (i.e., the 10 minutes it takes wings to dry a bit). Wing edges ripple. Worst of all, finally-perfect Catocala all die with their wings V'ed over the body (not nice and flat) and are so stiff they are hard to set, and certainly can't readily be inverted wing-over-body to stuff in an envelope.

It's my presumption that the alcohol displaces natural body water, and dries so fast that the specimen is stiff. Of course, the counter-argument is that a Saturnid injected with copious amounts of alcohol doesn't do this, and of course, a thoroughly submerged/ soaked specimen cannot possibly divest itself of all the alcohol in the thorax within minutes.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Critique?

Chuck

[kevinkk]

I haven't used alcohol, but other solvents I found at the hardware store, methyl..something. The same drying would occur as described above, only
setting the specimen quickly would prevent problems.
Now, it's back to the old fingernail polish remover. They quit making the methyl- something and substituted something presumably less toxic.
Gone are the easy times of being able to buy deadly chemicals without a license or work related purpose.
At home, now I use the polish to quiet the specimen enough to put it into an envelope and then into a closed container and allow the fumes to work,
or pop it in the freezer. There is still the timing issue though.
There's a fine line between not enough and too much, which causes the moth fur to mat down.
I've noticed another thing- certain specimens set easier depending on how they normally rest when alive- the V shape is a difficult one,if they rest
with the wings over the body,it's going to be difficult, then it seems like a choice between the perfect symmetrical and risking bending the costa.

[exoticimports]

Freezing hasn’t worked well for me with catocala. Stiff then too, probably dehydration. Spingidae seem to be OK in the freezer.

[bobw]

Freezing Catocala works for me, but they have to be in an airtight plastic bag otherwise they will lose moisture and stiffen up.

[exoticimports]

Jul 22, 2020 0:37:44 GMT -8 bobw said:

Freezing Catocala works for me, but they have to be in an airtight plastic bag otherwise they will lose moisture and stiffen up.

My technique was to put them in an envelope, then into tupperware, then freeze them for about six hours. Most became a bit stiff.


Chuck

[leptraps]

I have been fortunate to obtain Potassium Cyanide about 30+ years ago. These are pellets. The pellets are in gallon glass jar that fits into a a air tight/water tight Stainless Steel cylinder. I store the cylinder in a chest type freezer full of plastic containers with papered specimens.

When a jar has lost it's effectiveness, I have a location where I could/can safely dispose of hazardous materials.

There was an older (mid 80's) who used Cyanide in his killing jars. When a jar lost its effectiveness, he would throw the jars into the Ocean. (Not recommended.)

When I am in the field collecting, I typically pinch most butterflies.



I have friends who use Ethyl Acetate or "Dispatching" fluids from Entomological Suppy companies.

Most of the specimens I collect in Bait Traps go into a kill Jar. I use Ethyl Acetate in my Light Traps. I use Ethyl Acetate as the kill agent in the traps. While sorting the trap, keeper specimens go into a "kill jar". I paper most specimens. Certain species I field pin and store in a cooler until I return home. Field pin specimens are always mounted first.

These processes I learned while I was in High School. I have modified these processes as I grew older to prevent damage to specimen and to maintain flexibility of the specimen to allow them to be easily mounted.

Try different methods until you find the best method for you.

[exoticimports]

So get this. I had a bunch of catocala that I'd killed by dropping in alcohol. Some with wings in a V over the body, some with wings flat (not above the body).

Those with the wings flat are fine to set; but I could not get the wings to move folded over the body; nor could I get the V wings to move much at all.

So I left them in a softening container for TEN DAYS.

No change!

[leptraps]

Never ever soak dried Lepidopteta in alcohol. When specimens are soaked in alchohol, the natural body fluids are removed. Even after a long stay in a "Relaxer" will not allow the muscles to become flexible.

When I return from the field with lot's of specimens. I place them in air tight light tight plastic containers and put them in the freezer. When I am ready to mount/spread specimens from my freeze. I place them in the relaxer before I go to bed and they are ready to mount/spread in the AM.

However, there is that occasional specimen, a prize catch, that refuses to cooperate and causes me to say very bad words. The young lady I am currently dating is a cosmologists and told me to try a meat tenderizer. I have used the meat tenderizer more that once and found it effective at softening wing muscles.

[exoticimports]

Aug 13, 2020 17:08:51 GMT -8 leptraps said:

I have used the meat tenderizer more that once and found it effective at softening wing muscles.

I presume you mean the powder type of tenderizer, not the mallet type, though there are times I would have used the mallet!



This is interesting, so I investigated. Here is what meat tenderizer is:

Meat tenderizer refers to a powdered naturally derived enzyme powder.The enzyme most commonly used is papain, which comes from papayas or bromelain, which comes from pineapples (a tropical fruit in the bromeliad family).Meat is sprinkled with the powder, and the enzymes help to break down the meat fibers. The same result can be obtained by marinating meat in papaya or pineapple juice

How do you use the meat tenderizer? Simply in the container? I wonder how it penetrates the exoskeleton. I presume you don't rub it in, like one would a cheap steak. I think an injection may be effective.


Chuck

[leptraps]

I told my lady friend about meat tenderizer. She definitely knows how to soften stiff muscles.