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Hi all,

I am trying for the first time to make permanent slide mounts of chironomids, using the protocol suggested in "Chironomidae of the Holarctic Region, parts 3 adult males". Although I started with a modestly-sized midge (about 5 mm), I'm finding it very difficult to see how I can fit all the dissected parts under five small coverslips on a single microscope slide, as suggested by that reference. I am using standard 3 x 1 inch slides (sorry, no metric on the box I have) and 12-mm coverslips from Ted Pella. The first two cover slips are already taking up a bit too much space and the balsam is running all over the place. It seems like it will be quite difficult to use cover slips that are big enough to cover the dissected parts, but small enough to fit five on a standard glass slide? Do folks have suggestions? Should I be using extra large glass slides or using two slides per fly?

Thanks!

Ken Schneider
San Francisco, CA, USA