This is a message from the Museumpests List. To post to this list send it as an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe please look at the footer of this email. ----------------------------------------------------------- Freezing is the easiest since you're not in the forests, deserts, miles away from civilization, but in your home or office. I think ethyl acetate would be the material used in the killing jars - less dangerous than acetone. Ethanol is good as a fluid preservative and killing agent. 70-75% is good and 95% good for DNA preservation but specimen becomes brittle. Propylene glycol is also good but kind of slimy. Good preservation of DNA and you can mail specimens and not have to list the material as dangerous goods because not flammable. Sometimes letting an insect starve may ruin the specimen if tissues decompose prematurely prior to preservation or photography. Dragonflies and damselflies are good candidates for the starvation route because their gut gets cleared out and the body coloration remains pristine. Lou
Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E. Entomologist, Arachnologist Division of Invertebrate Zoology American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th Street New York, New York 10024-5192 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 212-769-5613 voice 212-769-5277 fax The New York Entomological Society, Inc. www.nyentsoc.org<http://www.nyentsoc.org/> [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Pat Kelley Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2012 3:52 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: RE: [pestlist] killing bugs and leaving a beautiful corpse This is a message from the Museumpests List. To post to this list send it as an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe please look at the footer of this email. ----------------------------------------------------------- Barbara, The "kill jars" that entomologists use before pinning an insect in a collection use a small volume of acetone to quickly kill them. The easiest source for cheap acetone is fingernail polish remover, which works fine. Pour a bit over a paper towel (don't soak) in the bottom of a container and you are ready to go. Freezing can also work. Pat Patrick Kelley, Insects Limited, Inc. 16950 Westfield Park Road Westfield, IN 46074 USA Phone: (317) 896-9300 Fax: (317) 867-5757 Email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> website: www.insectslimited.com<http://www.insectslimited.com/> ________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]]<mailto:[mailto:[email protected]]> On Behalf Of Appelbaum & Himmelstein Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2012 2:39 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [pestlist] killing bugs and leaving a beautiful corpse I am trying to get an intact dead body of a particular type of insect to photograph so I can have it identified, but it takes a long time for them to die by starvation after I put them in a jar. I noticed that a squirt of Windex incapacitates them temporarily but does not kill them, so I dropped a small bit of cotton wet with full-strength ammonium hydroxide into the jar with a recently caught one, and it died quite quickly. I am not, however, looking forward to opening the jar. Is there some other common but deadly substance (other than RAID) that would make a quick kill? Based on my Windex experience, I suggest it when you are trying to catch insects without squashing them. It may work on flying ones as well as crawling ones. Barbara Appelbaum Appelbaum & Himmelstein 444 Central Park West New York, NY 10025 212-666-4630 (voice) 212-316-1039 (fax) [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> website: aandhconservation.org<http://aandhconservation.org> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To send an email to the list, send your msg to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe from this list send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> and in the subject put: "unsubscribe" - no quotes please. You are receiving the Pestlist emails in standard mode. To change to the DIGEST mode send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with this command in the body: set mode digest pestlist Any problems email [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> or [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To send an email to the list, send your msg to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe from this list send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> and in the subject put: "unsubscribe" - no quotes please. You are receiving the Pestlist emails in standard mode. To change to the DIGEST mode send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with this command in the body: set mode digest pestlist Any problems email [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> or [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To send an email to the list, send your msg to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this list send an email to [email protected] and in the subject put: "unsubscribe" - no quotes please. You are receiving the Pestlist emails in standard mode. To change to the DIGEST mode send an email to [email protected] with this command in the body: set mode digest pestlist Any problems email [email protected] or [email protected]
