Posted by Kahis on 07-11-2005 16:07
#3
I do also use a freezer for pest control, but try to keep the number of freezing times per sample as low as possible for the following reasons:
1. Repeated freezing will slowly make the dried insects more brittle. I understand that many professional curators now dislike freezing for this reason.
2. Freezing/thawing cycles utterly destroy any remaining DNA. I have at times provided material for DNA sequecing. Dried insects can usually be used if they are not too old, but anti-pest freezing is a no-no.
In practice I use a unit system with transparent units, normally one small unit box for each species.
If the damage is limited to a single unit (and almost always it is), I remove only the affected unit, put it in a sealed plastic bag and then freeze the unit, insects and pests included, for a week or so.
Cheers,
Kahis