Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Standards in Slide Mounting

Posted by Gunnar M Kvifte on 10-10-2014 14:26
#4

I sincerely hope that Berlese fluid is not widely used anymore. I use euparal in my slides, most of my collaborators tend to use canada balsam.
Which parts are dissected and which aren't seems to be taxon-specific. When I make Psychodid preparations I first mount the wings and set the rest of the body to maceration -- ca 24 hours in KOH at room temperature. Then I clean the body in three subsequent baths of acetic acid, 70% and 100% ethanol (ca 10 minutes each) before dissecting off the terminalia and head. The head, wings, thorax and terminalia are mounted under separate coverslips. The slides take several months to dry, but can of course be examined to some degree before they are finished.
People who do Chironomids and Ceratopogonids also usually dissect the legs and antennae from the rest of the animal.