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Post by Zacatak on Nov 5, 2012 15:16:53 GMT -8
hi everyone, i couldn't find enough information on the net about how to prevent the oils/grease from moth abdomens from staining and ruining the look of the abdomens.. i handle many unmounted moths and find this problem when im trying to dry such species as aenetus virescens which is very greasy. i usually remove the abdomens from the body to dry separate, but is there a way to dry abdomens and prevent the abdomens from completely being overtaken by the oil within?
the oil seems to overtake the abdomens color and go completely brown, which is a problem if the moths natural color is green lol
any help will be much appreciated
zac
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Post by clinton9 on Jan 4, 2013 17:13:23 GMT -8
Hi members,
Can you please help Zac.
Cheers
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2013 17:24:51 GMT -8
I soak mine in several acetone baths. Each bath is cleaner than the prior. By the time I get to number three, next to no grease is evident in the solution. As time goes by, number two becomes number one and three becomes two. At that time, I start a fresh bath and it becomes number three as it is the cleanest.
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Post by papilio28570 on Jan 4, 2013 21:08:29 GMT -8
Removing the abdomen is a goof idea as soon as the moth becomes brittle after death so it snaps off clean. Soak it as Bill explains above. Soaking the whole specimen mats the hair down on the thorax and or wings.
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Post by colin12303 on Jan 5, 2013 2:39:27 GMT -8
The dry cleaning fluid carbon tetracloride works best.
I have a friend who works for an ink supply company who used to get it for me.
Unfortunately they stopped using it,something to do with health and safety.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 5, 2013 13:52:41 GMT -8
Naptha or "White Gasoline" - ordinary Coleman brand camping fuel for camp stoves.... readily available in any hardware store & works great...
John K.
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Post by parnoman on Jan 30, 2014 7:58:38 GMT -8
I heard somewhere that you can de-grease specimens in a microwave oven!?. I tried it with an old Poplar Hawk, & gave it an initial blast of 10 seconds. After an accumulated total of around 15 mins there was no noticeable reduction to the greasing but no harm to the specimen. However, what I discovered is that after the initial 10 or 20 seconds the pin had loosened to such a degree that the moth dropped off the pin! So whilst I didn't achieve my original aim, I did discover a good way of removing old pins, very handy for when you purchase specimens with different pin heights.
Anyone else out there tried this?
Ted P.
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Post by vgashtarov on Jan 30, 2014 10:56:01 GMT -8
You can also try n-pentane (C5H1) they say it is good because the hairs stay natural. Usually in the past I used ether, now friend from Russia told me I can use n-pentane, but first I want to try it with some ordinary Lepidoptera.
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Post by Chris Grinter on Jan 30, 2014 12:17:47 GMT -8
There are many discussions on the boards about degreasing, searching should give you a good idea of what people do here once the specimen already has grease.
Perhaps to prevent the grease in the first place you could try breaking the abdomen off (a dry specimen) and gluing it back on with something like Elmer's glue.. The barrier you create might do the trick to prevent the grease from wicking onto the rest of the body (but of course the abdomen will still darken). I doubt there is a way to prevent the grease from happening in the first place unless you go to the trouble of preemptively soaking in a solvent as mentioned above.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2014 14:42:24 GMT -8
Go to Wal-Mart and get some camp stove fuel or acetone. Be very careful with both especially the acetone. Can explode. Make sure to use in well ventilated area.
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Post by Zacatak on Feb 1, 2014 2:48:26 GMT -8
Another question I want to know is how long to leave the specimen to soak for? I've read on the internet you can leave your specimen soaking in acetone for 3 days.. other info says just a hour or two??
And what about Ornithoptera? How long should I leave to soak? I have a really nice Ornithoptera Victoriae that has a greasy abdomen. It also has a tiny light brown water mark that I'm so hoping will remove itself from the specimen if soaked for long enough.
Please help cheers :-)
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Post by vgashtarov on Feb 1, 2014 4:37:15 GMT -8
If the moths is large as Cossus cossus, in the past I let it stay in ether 24 h.
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Post by beetlehorn on Feb 1, 2014 6:37:45 GMT -8
I employ the same practice as Bill does with acetone baths. A few things I should mention though. If you leave Lepidoptera in a bath for a long time be sure to seal the container because acetone evaporates quickly, and you may ruin your specimen. I usually don't leave one for more than an hour at a time. The nylon pin heads will dissolve if left in acetone for prolonged periods also. Matted thoracic hairs can be gingerly "fluffed up" with a small sable hair artist's paintbrush. Also, don't try putting any butterflies that have an iridescent sheen such as Doxocopa, Apatura, Lycaenidae, etc. in a microwave. Something about the microwave can damage the iridescent quality of these butterflies! I did it once and ruined a few specimens. If you really need to remove a pin I would suggest rehydrating the specimen, and injecting a bit of water into the thorax on stubborn specimens while they rehydrate. Tom
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Post by johnnyboy on Feb 2, 2014 4:05:36 GMT -8
I wouldn't use acetone as a degreasing agent for moths as, if it is over 95% pure acetone, it can dehydrate the specimen and cause the wings to tear. The reason that this doesn't usually happen is that most acetone quickly attracts water from the air and is therefore diluted and has less drying effect.
Toluene is the best thing to use, I soaked a precious male Zelotypia stacyi, that was badly greased up, in it for 48 hours, and now it is beautiful, see photo.
Johnny
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Post by beetlehorn on Feb 2, 2014 8:09:57 GMT -8
Interesting suggestion johnnyboy. I think I will try using toluene if I can find it. I have never had any tearing problems using acetone, but I'm always open for suggestions.
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