|
|
Post by wingedwishes on Feb 26, 2021 9:25:57 GMT -8
I've been working with insects for a few decades now and have run into a basic spot where I have no training.
Now that I am receiving an excess of insects from Belize that are very fresh I am going to be selling some unpinned (dried). I've always received stock already dried or have dried on pinning boards. They are arriving papered, no mold, and not dried (with collection data).
How would you go about drying them? Here are the ones I will have an excess of:
Morpho peleides
Heliconians
Siproeta
Caligo
They are currently sitting in my freezer till I use them but I have hundreds more than I will be pinning out.
When I go to Belize and return in June, I expect that number to be even higher.
On a side note, I will be documenting heavily with photos and video with the hope that any one wanting to go will find everything they need to know to go there. I will also have crazy amounts of info on the specimens I collect. The goal is to have elevation, gps, date (and time), and more.
Thanks for any help y'all
|
|
|
|
Post by nomihoudai on Feb 26, 2021 9:38:31 GMT -8
Depends on your climate, but a reproducible method that works everywhere is a large plastic container (several gallons) with silica gel. You can buy multiple pounds of these. They absorb moisture and change their color when doing so. They can be restored at high temperature in a regular oven.
|
|
|
|
Post by wingedwishes on Feb 26, 2021 10:47:29 GMT -8
That’s a huge help. Thank you for this information and for all the help you give us and have given us over the years
|
|
|
|
Post by jshuey on Feb 26, 2021 12:17:04 GMT -8
If you live in an area where your furnace is running everyday - just spread the bugs out on a table for a week or so. The low humidity will dry them out quite nicely. When you are in Belize - drying bugs will be more problematic. I use Chlorocresol in a sealed container to inhibit mold, but you still want to dry them out as much as possible before you come back home. At the same time - you have to keep ants out of your bugs (they are everywhere and once they find dead insects - they don't stop until everything edible is gone!). The photo below is pretty crappy - but the idea is that you have the bugs elevated above a pool of water (in the plate) by the plastic cups - such that they can "airdry" to local humidity and the ants can't get past the water. At night - when the humidity is highest, seal everything up. From there, the Chlorocresol takes care of things as you travel home. When you get home - then finish the drying and run them through a freezer cycle as well. Also worth noting in the photo - the pain killers (if you are hiking dawn to dusk for a couple of weeks straight) and the caffeine pills (so you can hike dawn to dusk). We are pretty serious when we go down there! John  |
|
|
|
Post by wingedwishes on Feb 26, 2021 12:43:52 GMT -8
Everything will go into a freezer right after it is caught and then carried into the states put back in the freezer and then mailed to me right after so they are very fresh when they come to me. I like to use the aspirin powders because they are 50% caffeine. That has been the best pain killer and pick me up then I have come across yet at least for me. I have run into the same problem with ants and dog food and I just put the dog food bowl in a tray of water so that the ants can’t get to it. That’s a good idea and I appreciate your suggestions
|
|
|
|
Post by jshuey on Feb 26, 2021 12:59:43 GMT -8
Everything will go into a freezer right after it is caught and then carried into the states put back in the freezer and then mailed to me right after so they are very fresh when they come to me. I like to use the aspirin powders because they are 50% caffeine. That has been the best pain killer and pick me up then I have come across yet at least for me. I have run into the same problem with ants and dog food and I just put the dog food bowl in a tray of water so that the ants can’t get to it. That’s a good idea and I appreciate your suggestions You going to Pook's Hill or Green Hills? j |
|
|
|
Post by wingedwishes on Feb 26, 2021 14:22:02 GMT -8
Staying at Mikes Place (collecting there). Collecting at Green Hills. Also collecting maybe in a reserve under the guide of the park ranger supervisor who is a close friend of Robin Greaves (Green Hills).
Robin will be meeting us at the airport as he also knows someone at the car rental place and then I'll follow him to Mikes Place.
Plane tickets, Mikes Place, and passport are all now paid for. Just getting into shape to keep up with my daughter and see who can collect the best stuff.
|
|
