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Ok, started a new thread on this subject. Give your best advice so a non-collector can undestand it. How do one kill, prepare, store (dry/liquid) and package flies (or other bugs) for sending via snail mail. Hopefullt there are some easy cheap fast manouvers ... and maybe this info later can be compiled into an article.

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For non-collectors the easiest way to kill flies is in the freezer - just put them in for 2 hours and when they're dead handle them very carefully (they will be brittle) and let them thaw a little.

I think the easiest way to send flies is in alcohol (isopropyl or industrial methylated spirit) but the main thing to remember is that is must be pure - with no colours or additives that might stain or contaminate the specimens. Use glass or plastic vials with very tight-fitting stoppers and pack-out the specimens in the tube with a little tissue paper (not cotton wool - it gets tangled in the bristles & legs) to stop them sliding about too much. Then just wrap the vials in bubble-wrap or cotton wool and place in a strong, cardboard box for posting. The resulting specimens usually won't be perfect but most experts will be able to extract and mount them themselves.

If you feel that you have time to pin specimens then it will usually make them easier for the expert to handle and will make for better quality specimens. You'd just have to get hold of some pins (from a place like http://www.entosp...) - either fine (diameter depends on size of fly) 38mm stainless steel (not black) or fine micro-pins. Then (while the specimen is fresh & still soft) just pin the fly to a piece of dense foam or cork and leave it for a few days to dry. The flies can then be pinned into a foam/cork-lined cardboard box or even film cannister - just make sure the pin is firmly in the foam. Then to protect it in transit (very important) put this box inside a larger cardboard box and pack it with bubble wrap or foam so it doesn't rattle about. Mark the box "fragile" on the outside (just in case it makes any difference!) and post it using a relatively fast delivery tarrif.

Easy :D

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If packed in a vial (tube) I assume you pack one fly and stopper, one fly and stopper etc or could you put several flies together between each stopper?

The question about alcohol percentage has been discussed before, I think ... somewhere. I guess the flies should be put in alcohol as soon as possible. How long can you store it in alcohol before sending it? Let's say one collect flies during a period of time and plan to send a bunch at once later?

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I would mix flies together in the alcohol and then push a ball of rolled tissue paper in behind them (gently) and then finish by pushing the stopper into the open end to seal it. You could also put some sticky tape around the vial too to make sure the stoper doesn't pop out in transit.

I think the standard industrial methylated spirit is about 75% alcohol and that is fine for months, maybe years. You just have to be careful because the alcohol evapourates if the stopper isn't air-tight :)

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Several flies in one vial should be OK. Depends on your degree of perfectionism :)



Around 70% is usually used, diluted with distilled water, if possible. For material for DNA studies, 'pure' alcohol is recommended. Room-temperature storage in alcohol for a year should do little harm - ten years and you'll certainly start to see some bleaching. Low temperature is always better.

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Always leave a small amount of air at the top of the tube - if the alcohol completely fills the tube, it can expand and push the top off if it gets warm. I agree with Chris about taping the tops on - better than having the tube empty in the mail! Also, it's a good idea to wrap the tubes in enough tissue or cotton wool to absorb the alcohol if any of the tubes accidentally breaks. I also seal the tubes in a small polythene bag. And don't forget to label each tube with the collecting details - written in pencil or permanent pen on paper. It doesn't have to be special paper if it's a temporary label. Ordinary copier or printer paper will do.

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It is also a good idea to write on the parcel "Dead insects for scientific study, no commercial value". It should help the parcel through the customs office if you them abroad.

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Yes, Tony is right. The vial MUST have a small amount of the air *always*. Otherwise, the vial can open... :S

I use vegetal paper - just in the case I use ethanol! - for vials (inside I put ethanol 70%) and write with Staedtler pencil. Even if the alcohol fall on the paper, the writing remains the same.
I never sent dry specimens though. (that's why I asked for that in another thread... and crex.;)
If somenone wants to have vegetal paper let me know! This is the best for wet :) specimens. I put the vegetal paper inside the vial with ethanol and I never had problems! Of course, I have other labels outside the vial. But it works.

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or it can be "Dangerous. The bite can be painful. Don?t open. We will not have any responsability for any damages. For scientifical purposes." :D

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Apparently it's a bad idea to send the flies dried and not pinned. A pity. That would have been the easiest way ... I though that if you have a hard box of some sort where you put the flies and wrapped each losely with soft paper (like toilet paper) that it wouldn't get damaged, but I guess you have sent enough flies to see what was successful and not :D

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I've received dry flies loose in soft paper and they come through in variable states - some are OK but if there is any movement they shed bristles and aristae like crazy :(

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and the wings can be very damaged. :(

Sending specimens in ethanol 70% it is very easy. ;) And it is a very cheap way and safe if you use a tight vial! I have proper vials to keep very tightly the ethanol inside the bottle. EVen you shake a lot, there is no one drop of alcohol outside. :)

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hi,

i think Eppendorf Tube are the best for things like this. i alwais use them for storing... they are in different size so...
are from plastic so very hard to be broken and they seall very well.

as a question. here is not easy to by industrial alcool. i have buyed alimentar alcool at 87 degrees. this is enough to conserv specimen?

cosmln

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I use ethanol 70% . 87% is a little aggressive. Good to extract DNA. :)

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so this type of alcool is OK,
but maybe to put some more water :D

cosmln

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I wouldn't have a problem with 87% really ... especially if the specimen is only in it for a few weeks :)

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Hi All,
It's a VERY important thread, thank you!:)
Possibly, a good idea is to show one-two photos where non-specialist can see flies properly packed in the vial, with those scraps of paper...

I think there is another very interesting, important and large topic not covered here (so, another thread required...). I mean CAPTURE TECHNIQUES!:) Are they different? How it depends on family, situation (e.g. vegetation), etc.? Sharing of some "Tricks of diptera capturing" may be profitable for everybody...

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it was discussed before. See here:
http://www.dipter...&pid=37688

and here:
http://www.dipter...rowstart=0

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Thank you, Jorge!
I missed these threads...:|

Dima

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''Apparently it's a bad idea to send the flies dried and not pinned. A pity. That would have been the easiest way ... I though that if you have a hard box of some sort where you put the flies and wrapped each losely with soft paper (like toilet paper) that it wouldn't get damaged, but I guess you have sent enough flies to see what was successful and not ''

Please , whatever you do, use material lacking in fibres as they will tangle with setae etc. and damage the specimens. Problem is that non-fiber paper tends to be slippy and flies move around. In fibrous material they simply get smashed to bits.
I recently received several thousand Empidids from Chile, stored in boxes with soft paper and cotton wool. Such a tragedy to see what was once probably a very important collection, utterly destroyed:- maybe one in every 200 specimens retained enough characters to have some slight use but really, they all need to be thrown away
cheers
Adrian

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Yep, seems only pinned or "alcoholized" flies will do. I wish there was an easier way, but there isn't. Pity about that large collection. :(

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Yep; I was really gutted to see the state of that big collection. So sad to see damage on such a vast scale. The collector probably spent hundreds of field hours making the collection only to destroy it through bad trechnique.
Incidentally, some museums seem to have concluded that there is no safe way of sending flies in the mail and now insist on specimens being carried by hand.
We can only do the best we can
cheers
Adrian

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It is possible to send pinned flies safely through the mail - if they are properly prepared (that's a whole new thread) and if they are sent using one of the more secure systems. Sending alcohol material in the mail does require special training (at least in Britain and the USA) and the use of selected couriers.
Even taking stuff by hand can have its dangers - I know of one instance when a bag containing storeboxes of pinned ichneumons broke while the entomologist was on a moving escalator. He watched helplessly as the storeboxes tumbled down the steps!
No, it wasn't me! :p)

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As a follow-up to Irwin's comment. I just received a box of pinned tabanids, small and large specimens, all the way from Europe (I'm in Canada). The trip took 3 weeks. Absolutely no damage, not even a leg or antenna broken!
The trick seems to be to in the packaging; in this instance: a 19x10x4 cm unit tray with a double layer of foam on the bottom to hold the pins firmly. This tray, with a lid, in a much larger box 30x26x21 cm. Surround the tray with foam 'peanuts' so that it can't move.

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Often it is recommended to "cross-pin" the insects before posting them. This involves pushing a sloping pin on either side of the abdomen (for large, direct-pinned specimens) or mounting stage (for staged flies). This will stop the specimen swivelling on the pin, so it will not come loose from the foam, nor will it knock into adjacent specimens. Card mounts are particularly prone to turn round on their pins and can cause alot of damage by hitting specimens that are close by.
It's also a good idea to pin some cotton wool along one edge of the tray - if any pins or specimens do come loose, they get tangled in it and will not damage other specimens.
It's also a good idea to seal the tray with a temporary lid made of clear plastic film. The allows customs officials to see inside the box, if they get suspicious, without any risk to the specimens. It also acts as a barrier to pests that might want to get at your specimens. It all takes time, but it is worth it to ensure that your specimens arrive in perfect condition. :)

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Because I've been studying part time and remotely the last couple of years, I have posted a number of boxes of specimens off to tutors to be marked. I would say always cross pin in the manner Tony describes. My experience is that the single biggest danger to your specimens is a card swinging around and wiping out the specimen next to it.

Tony's ideas about some cotton wool to tangle up loose stuff and the cling film seal I hadn't thought of, but they make sense to me and I will be adopting.

Lots of bubble wrap around the box, then posted in a padded bag worked fine for me, but I was only sending one box of about 18cm x 12 cm x 8cm within the UK.