Posted by Tony T on 03-08-2007 03:20
#24
Kahis wrote:
As a quick&dirty alternative I have used a acetone bath. Specimens are removed from alcohol, pinned while wet, and then immersed in acetone overnight. The time isn't critical, a few hours is enough for small species and times up to several days cause little apparent harm. Later the flies are removed from the acetone.
Read the rest of Kahis's comments.
Acetone is the standard way to preserve Odonates and also to 'freshen up' just about any insect. It is extensively used for degreasing Lepidoptera. I wrote a short article on such degreasing and am including 2 of the figures here to illustrate part of the method. 1] Obtain a polyethylene dish just deep enough to accommodate an insect pin; 2] Make a hole in the top to hold a wine bottle cork; 3] Pin the fly into the cork (Fig 3); Fill the dish with enough acetone that it just covers the fly when the lid is placed on the container (Fig. 4).
For flies one could use many smaller corks in the lid and thus 'freshen up' many flies at once.