#Insect preservation

[gregorsamsaisliterallyme]

im not sure how many of you can relate to this but the reson i enjoy taxidermy, insects, pathology, psychology, and the more "grim" and misunderstood subjects is because i, myself, feel misunderstood.

i think that's that same for a lot of people as well, we want to understand what others dont. we feel rejected by others so we want to be accepting of things that are strange to most.

i thought about this because any time i talk about anything to do with the dead, or insects, or psychology i always get strange reactions. and it made me think about why i like these things in general.

i want to understand the misunderstood.

it's always been so confusing to me why people dont get that.

but what do i know, its 11pm for me when im typing and posting this LMAOO

[popcorn428]

building a collection!! I found both of these dead (I dint believe in killing for art) I think they came out pretty cool though, if anyone has any tips on preserving insects I’d love to hear them!!

[arctic-hands]

Can anyone tell me how to best preserve spotted lanternfly wings? My only supplies are a small jar with a lid I'm gonna use to preserve the wings on, Mod Podge Dimensional Magic because I can't tolerate resin fumes and don't have any anyway, rubbing alcohol, vinyl gloves, plastic tweezers that have textured tips, and an intact dead lanternfly that randomly died on my window.

I've never preserved a bug or removed the wings off of one (I just want the wings), so I have no idea what I'm doing. Searching the net just gave me instructions on how to pin them, mummify them, or soak the bugs in alcohol, but none of them were about lanternflies specifically and I know their wings are fairly delicate.

(Also I really fucking hate bugs even dead ones so any advice on how to not scream or puke as I handle it or remove the wings will be greatly appreciated.)

[infinitequeer]

HELP!

how does one preserve insects for months on end?

I’ve trapped a few bugs to bring to my friends but won’t see them for at least 4 months and one of the bugs (a scorpion) started growing mold even though I thought it was dried out

[bonejunky6669]

juvenile Carolina Wolf Spider corpses found in Lincoln, CA. preserved in isopropyl alcohol, glycerin, and water. i turned the one that sunk to the bottom into a necklace, im still trying to figure out how to get the others to sink. the biggest one(in the large bottle) is probably about an inch long for scale. this was my first time preserving an insect! (they're actually arachnids i know)

my oddity collection is now expanded. I'm always so proud when i find and preserve/restore the oddities myself :) i also found a crawfish claw on this same trip, and was gifted a bird skull my aunt found. once i clean those I'll show them off too.

edit: in first picture order their names are!!- Naberius, Coronabeth, and Ianthe. yes im brainsick

[goatsrulez]

I TRIED MY DARNDEST!!!

I admit… I didn’t have insect pins before though, no wonder it launched out all by itself😭 I do now!!!!! YOU ARE GOING NO WHERE

Any tips for bug posing/pinning? Trying to make mine do the nae nae like that gif from death note… I even have an outfit planned but I’m losing legs 😭 I might have to try again… it sucks after the effort but it was weird after the next day it literally wiggled out of the pins… idk how to get them to stop contracting? my pose was completely ruined :(

I don’t want it to be deteriorated, I think that was a mistake, using harsh chemicals… maybe rubbing alcohol was too strong? My bug drowned, it was really fresh too… I’m LOSING HER!!!

[mipmoth]

Volcarona variants

[rafefar]

Bees on Sagittaria lancifolia

Green Cay Nature Preserve, FL

[viiluen]

Good afternoon, wonderful people.

I’m seeking some help for my first time properly pinning an insect- this tarantula hawk wasp has been sitting in my freezer for nearly a decade now (his name is Fred) and I’m tired of the poor lad just staying in that cryosleep chamber. I would love to pin or mount him (can you tell I know NOTHING about this?) and I have no clue of how to, or how to keep him from decaying, how to not break him, eeeetceeeetera.

Any help would be greatly welcomed! I can give art in exchange if you so wish :’)

[im-wide-asleep]

Alright science time. That’s literally the smell of decomposition there, the bacteria that breaks down tissues/etc releasing gases. Some of these bacteria and gases are hazardous to human health. So for starters I’d recommend a mask and gloves for working with this stuff. Also make sure to clean everything with rubbing alcohol. Now, the fact that things are decomposing means that your specimens aren’t going to last. Fortunately, preserving insects is really easy. (I’ve never done any sort of animal, though.) Preservation is simply preventing the decomposition.

Insects/Arachnids you would keep in a jar (AKA not pin) are either soft bodies or hard bodied. Most adult specimens are hard bodied, though it’s really easy to just google to find out. Preserving a soft bodied specimen is usually more difficult than a hard bodied one. There’s a lot of different tutorials online, so I’ll just run through a really easy method that’s easily done at home/without hazardous chemicals.

You’ll need 2 different containers, one for the preservation process and one for actually keeping your specimen. These should be glass.

Salt

Hand Sanitizer (No fragrance, dyes, funky mix-ins.)

Rubbing Alcohol (Isopropyl alcohol, 70% is best, but it doesn’t make too much of a difference.)

Water

Some sort of pot

Heat source

Cotton swab/pad/ball. (Just for cleaning your jar/disinfecting.)

Tweezers/forceps/whatever tools work best for you

Pipette/eye dropper

Obviously your specimen. Soft Bodied Insects

The first thing you’re going to do with a soft bodied insect (like a caterpillar) is boil it for a few seconds-3 minutes. Time depends on the size. Once again, you can google this. Then you’re going to dry it. Bacteria loves moisture, and the drying helps make sure that bacteria can’t grow. To dry your specimen, leave it covered/submerged in salt for a week, but longer usually won’t hurt. If it’s large, it’s best to leave it for longer. The next thing you need to do is submerge your specimen in the hand sanitizer. Just cover it, don’t use too much. Let it sit another week. Now it’s ready to be transferred to the final jar. Clean the jar with alcohol and whatever cotton applicator you have. Fill the jar half way with hand sanitizer. Use your forceps/tweezers to position your specimen in the jar and use your eye dropper/pipette to fill it with hand sanitizer the rest of the way. Chances are there’s going to be some air bubbles. You can either use a thin pipette to suction them out, but it’s easier to just boil the jar. Submerge the jar 3/4 of the way in boiling water. Once the air bubbles are no longer visible, just take it out, let it cool, then put the lid on. (You don’t need to get rid of air bubbles but sometimes they distort your view of the specimen.) BE CAREFUL WITH ALCOHOL AND FIRE, ALCOHOL IS FLAMMABLE

Hard Bodied Insects

You don’t need to boil these. Just go straight to submerging them in the salt. After a week or two, once again depending on the size, you can submerge it in the hand sanitizer. Large hard bodied insects can be in the hand sanitizer for up to two weeks. Then, sanitize your final jar, fill half way with sanitizer and position your specimen. Hard bodied insects are a bit more annoying to position nicely. Once you have it where you want, fill up the rest of the way and if you want to, get rid of the air bubbles using either of the methods described above. Add the lid. I MEAN IT, ALCOHOL IS FLAMMABLE.

What you do with this information is up to you, I suppose. I’m assuming none of you are going to decide to chug bug filled flaming hand sanitizer, but this is tumblr, so for the love of god, don’t do something stupid. Have fun, creatures.

My bug jar (not exclusive to bugs, i also have dead snakes, lizard skin, a crawfish claw, and other things) got opened last night to put a wasp nest in there and i think i might die in 24 hours cause the smell that came from that jar was actually the worst thing I've ever smelled in my LIFE

[jastard]

Working on these guys again

[jahtheexplorer]

Spotted lanternfly

Hated by farmers, these little bugs are invasive planthoppers that came in a shipment from China in the 2012. Now they are everywhere. This one right here, was very photogenic.

Picture taken in the John Heinz wildlife refuge

[emmikatjohnson]

A real ladybug preserved on a real flower and a spot of lichen, sealed in a glass vial with a cork base.

All flora and fauna featured in this piece are real and hand collected and preserved by the artist. Insects were collected after death.

Shop Here!

[justme-again04]

I’m like if an avatar of the corruption was a non-binary college student majoring in entomology

[scoutingthetrooper]

tarantulabox

[pomegranateteeth]

Rare pinned dry scorpion specimens - scorpions and arachnids alike are typically kept as wet specimen for research collections. It is rare to see them fully pinned dry or out of preservation medium.