Yeah, I'll endorse the freezer method. For some insects whose color can be destroyed by exposure to alcohol or ethyl acetate, the freezer is the best option because it won't discolor them.
Insect Hunter whenever i use the freezer method, it’s always discoloured my insects. i don’t know how this even happens! alcohol has always been my go to method.
Hi so there was an already dead blue dragonfly near our house and I plan to use the freezer method because I don't have acetone/alchohol as I've learned from other articles. Since it was dead its been air drying just on a counter, so it might already have the bugs that eat it. After putting it in the freezer I heard if it thaws fully it gets mushy too? Any tips. I'll be putting it in the freezer to kill the so-called bugs but how will it be okay when I finally mount/frame it? I also heard about resin so maybe I'll use that.
When I was an entomologist in Juneau AK. (at the Federal Building) in the 1970s, our killing jars consisted of a lidded glass jar with a cotton disk at the bottom which was soaked with hydrogen cyanide. It was quite effective, but needless to say you didn't want to breathe any of the cyanide fumes when the jar was uncapped for inserting or removing insects from it. :-O If you detected the odour of almonds, it was too late, hahaha!!! ;-) Good to know that there is a safer killing jar now! :-)
I’m an exterminator and I often time bring home critters I find at work to put into resin. I drop them in a sample container with some alcohol than once I’m home pin/prop while they dry so that I have them ready to go!
since im not a scientist or anything, i prefer to find them already dead or take them if theyre still in good condition after theyve been killed, but either way, i have such an appreciation for the ones i have and have preserved and am in the process of preserving. their beauty astounds me and i have great respect for their lives :)
Thank you. Inspiring video! What is the best way to preserve a tarantula? I presume it constitute as hairy insect and hence it will be either the freezer method or the acetone? Which method is the best for finishing the specimen in resin?
Good question! I have never done so myself before, but I would use this video as a start. The key thing you will have to do is dissect the abdomen (rip out the guts from the ventral side and then restuff with cotton balls or something). I hope this helps. It would be very difficult to do a tarantula in resin because of air bubbles getting stuck on the hairs. ua-cam.com/video/By2kK6lxxtM/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/pQKg4EYCihY/v-deo.html
So I just found the *_BIGEST SPIDER IVE SEEN IN MY HOUSE_* I saw it literally flopping around the floor literally. Not sure where it came from. I wanted to save it because it looks really scary and I can say *_I actually found this spider in my house_*
A really good way to preserve Coleopteras is by putting them on a tube or container with a paper towel that has been saturated with 5% acetic acid (vinegar will do). The specimen will be really malleable thanks to the moisture and acidic environment, and no mold or other degrading things will grow. Also, it does a great job in preserving colours (at least while in the container).
Ray Benedict Susanto no, the acetic acid inhibits growth of all decaying agents, so the specimen stays fine. I know researchers who let beetles for years before pinning in this setup.
Insect Hunter that will be the most malleable beetle you will ever encounter. Dispatch it with a kill jar and in less than a day, transfer it to this setup. Leave it for a week (maybe less) to end the rigor mortis and the beetle will be ready for pinning. I have heard sayings of beetles lasting 10 years in these vials to be then pinned, but I keep mine for some months at most.
What might be a good way to find insects already dead? I am more interested in mounting specimen for art, not to study, so I see no point in killing for art.
I guess just look around the house or in nature, it’s pretty rare obviously but you might get lucky, I recently found two died butterflies by happenstance and got here cause I wanted to pin them
Pools! I am 7 months late but now that its summer time here and the pool is open I've been looking in pools and the little pool cleaner things (idk its the cubby hole things at the edge of the pool) and I found a ton of crazy bugs in there. My grandparents found a fully preserved Luna Moth (unfortunately the antennae fell off while I was working with it one time) and I once found a mallodon beetle, but it was actually alive and since at the time I didn't have any container I let it go (I regret it though, it was gorgeous) This summer I actually plan to go to different public pools and see if I can collect any bugs there lol
@@makennastone6704 I clean pools, check the skimmer baskets for piles of small creature corpses. (Frogs, Insects, Arachnids, Mice, Occasional Bird, snake) Also literally all the time there is at least one insect making ripples In the pool water.
How to preserve black widows without their sacks shriveling up? I have tried twice but after 2 or 3 days the rear sack with the big red hourglass shrivels up.
Im going to attempt this in a few days. Im going to put it in the alcohol for about an hour or so to disinfect and to be able to move the legs without breaking them. Then i will pour a thin layer of resin place the spider how i want it and babysit it to watch for bubbles and floating. Then keep adding layers and letting cure inbetween layers until its done. Hopefully this will work and sense the resin is self setteling it will get in all the little tiny nooks and crannys and keep the spider preserved
@@thumbaroundreversefingerme4786 it did work but the butt part deflated after the resin was cured so i drilled a small hole and scraped all tbe guts out and filled it with black resin still look good but would recomend the dry method
I have not heard of people baking the insects to preserve them or using salts. I am not aware of salts being using to preserve invertebrates, but I would be happy to learn more about the concepts.
when I was 7 my grandmother's older husband passed away and I got a casted scorpion necklace that he made. It was casted in glass and looked really cool, this is how I got into bugs crafts and crap like that
Hi sir, just to be super sure because I'm paranoid in accidentally destroying a good specimen... So I found a (possibly) freshly dead carpenter bee, possibly Xylocopa Latipes, black shiny body with purple tinge wings, in my front garden and wanted to preserve it. I say "possibly freshly dead" is because I can still move its limbs but rigor mortis has started setting into one of its limbs... It's currently in a temporary container so yeah... So here are the main questions... 1. Since it's partially fuzzy and according to your video, the best way to preserve it would be the freezer method or the acetone method? I mainly want to preserve it for display, set it into a nice pose and mount it on a rock or branch and into a display case kind... Although I bet everyone would say pinning it would be better... Oh, and there's also the account of possible mold outbreak in this high humidity country I live in (Southeast Asia)... 2. What's the best/safest way to clean out a dead specimen found in the garden? Like I said, I'm so paranoid in accidentally destroying the specimen that I was trying and delicately using a damp cotton bud... 3. I got a liquid hand sanitizer of 51% ethyl alcohol and 10% ispropyl alcohol and my sister has something of 99% alcohol (she didn't mention exactly what but I'm still trying to find out)... According to your video, that's not really a safe idea for a dead partially fuzzy carpenter bee right?
yes I would not use chemicals to clean the specimen. This video here can help you figure out a good way to relax the specimen again. ua-cam.com/video/mKVlkthwq30/v-deo.html I have not tried cleaning a bee that is dirty so I don't know if this will work well or not, but I have two ideas for cleaning it. You must take care to try and not break anything either way. You could possibly try using a damp Q-tip or cotton swab and just moisten it slightly to clean off the insect. Another option is to use air to blow the dust off. You would need to find something like an aerosol can that sprays air under pressure but not too fast. Like something used to clean a computer. I think these are called air dusters. I would try doing one of those, but I have never tried either yet up to this point. If you do so please let me know and send me a picture of your specimen once you relax it. Until you relax it I would put it in the freezer but watch out for people putting heavy items on top of it that could break the specimen. Hope all that helps.
If you don't mind me asking. I am beginning to epoxy resin mounts. I have at the moment nothing. Can you suggest a set or kit to start with from Amazon? I don't know where to begin, but I have seen several of your videos and they seem the best to date on how to preserve them. Other youtube channels I have seen are more of craft things, which is not what I wanted to get in. Thank you.
Thanks for the acetone advice for the kill jar. I have a wooden adjustable setting platform I ordered from Carolina biological. Have yet to use it but this video def helps for the setup 👍
What would be the best way to preserve a mantis species? I want to get back into keeping them but I would love to save them after they pass away naturally in for my insect taxidermy collection. I don't always want to necessarily pin them so what would be the best way otherwise to keep them?
Yes I hate that! I had a beautiful mantidfly I caught but as soon as I dropped it in alcohol it got all weird and stiff and it was hard to work with and it ended up bad. In my experiences wasps and orthopterans are the worse in Alcohol. I'll freeze those. Every time I put any sort of orthopteran in there its legs stick straight out and its hard to put them back in their place
Found a bee on Saturday and it's almost Tuesday...I have it just in a box in my cupboard...do I need to put it in the freezer? I plan on relaxing and pinning probably Wed or Thurs
The acetone should not ruin the metallic shine as you are not soaking them in it, plus much of insect color is actually made by minute micro holes and curves in the body so it shouldn't affect the color. I have even submerged shiny insects in alcohol before with little loss of color. The big group that usually loses color in my opinion is dragonflies.
What do I do after the freezing? I have a big, beautiful dragonfly in my freezer, and would like to frame him. Can someone point me towards the right tutorial for frozen specimens? :)
im wondering, i started collecting the past month casually because i thought it was fun and kept finding cool bugs on the ground, but i want to take it more seriously and preserve and pin them on a board. what should I do in order to get them to be less dry so i could shape them the way i want when pinning without breaking them? also how do i ensure the bugs don't decompose or cause mold while pinned?
im a newbie so i dont know much yet, but for the limb movements, you can get container (mostly just a secure and tight tupperware container) then take a paper towel, soak it with water, and then squeeze all the water out so its moist, but not sopping wet. you then place it at the bottom of the container, then place your insect on the damp paper towel. you get another damp paper towel and then place it on the top on the insect. then put the lid on the container, make sure it closes all the way and is secure. let the insect sit for 24 hours, the bigger the insect, the longer it will need to sit. i hope this helps, for more info i recommend looking into it more.
Sorry for the very late reply. If you are getting into insect collecting feel free to reach out to me directly to get an invite to our discord channel. t-h-e-i-n-s-e-c-t-h-u-n-t-e-r (AT) gmail.com and I will send an invite.
How can I preserve a butterfly, my problems are parasite, molds (sort of a web like), I got a bunch of dead butterflies I just put them in a box, when I checked on them couple of days after there all stuck on each other because of the mold so I cleaned it up by removing the mold like a stock web on to the affected specimen, after couple of days I checked on it again somes of the specimens heads and tails gone and the wings are ruined not only on the edges but also on the tail part when I checked it there's some holes on the tails of the butterflies
Do you mean the plaster attached to the bottom of the lid? Or the home made one? It is a plaster type substance (usually plaster of paris) that is porous. It allows the chemicals to flow out and euthanize the insects.
Ok so. I found a june bug struggling to move correctly and looking like it was dying. I put it in the jar like you said for 5 minutes. I pinned it on some foam, but didn't put any pins through it, just used pins to position the legs. It was like that for 2 days. The next day I went to look at it and it was gone!! I had it on a shelf away from where my dog could have gotten it, I don't have any other pets, and no one else was in the house, so naturally I was really freaked out. I found it on the shelf moving and walking around, not very well but trying to walk. I felt so bad I put it back outside. What happened?? What did I do wrong??
Perhaps I misspoke in the video, on an insect as big as a June bug I would leave it for at least a half hour or just throw it in the freezer. Sorry for the confusion. For larger insects it takes much longer to kill especially if they have a lot of bulk to them.
@@InsectHunter thanks you!!!!! . I'm a Hairstylist, so we use 90 , to disinfect,.. thanks Again, I'm a New Sub , just found your content like two days ago!!!
The exoskeleton remains intact for years as long as an insect like a dermestid beetle doesn't get to them. These are insects that feed on exoskeletons, but they pretty much remain intact if not touched or disturbed.
I think that there’s no method to preventing it unless you pinned it, spiders will naturally curl up when they’re dead. ua-cam.com/video/U71QfCzXthk/v-deo.html
Black widows are tough because I think alcohol will dry out their abdomen. I think it needs to be killed quickly then sealed in resin. Worked alright for me...
Let's break this down into two groups. Wasps- To not loose color I would use a freezer or kill jar to euthanize them and then you will pin them as shown in this video: ua-cam.com/video/mKVlkthwq30/v-deo.html. Obviously you would not have to rehydrate as shown in this video. Butterflies- do not use alcohol!!!!! EVER! For butterflies a freezer or kill jar works best. Make sure you have big jar with plenty of space for the butterfly to open and close its wings before preservation. Once the butterfly is dead then you will want to spread it which is a tedious process. Here is a quick video from some workers at Purdue showing how to spread them: ua-cam.com/video/fYbpGxYgqDY/v-deo.html.
Please Replyy, what will happen if i put an insect in the refrigerator. Then if i take the insect out of the refrigerator for a long period of time will it decay??
I would say that the refrigerator will likely dehydrate the insect and you will have to re-hydrate it eventually. The freezer works best because it prevents mold and most other pathogens. If you take it out once being in the fridge for over 3-4 weeks it probably won't be malleable, but will still dry out just probably not in the position you want. Does that help?
Over night in the refrigerator is great if you want to photograph live insects that move quickly, like tiger beetles for example. As they slowly warm up you can usually get some good shots.
If the bug is alive and you capture it, how would I preserve it? I caught a venomous spider that was in my house and I wanna preserve it but I'm unsure how. It came back to life after a day in the freezer 😅😅
I used a kill jar, and all the insects I put in there survived. I thought they died, but I came back after pinning it and they were all moving and trying to get away
@@wellredcreations yes, that is why I dont use kill jars any more. Also, taxidermy is an important part of biology, and there is an ugly side to it, but I can be very important to our understanding of the natural world. Then again, I'm not doing any important research, so I don't feel the need to kill anything. Edit: also, I noticed I forgot to say that it actually just happened and was pretty traumatizing. I did not want to see them suffer. I'm not a psychopath
I found a morimus funereus yesterday and I put it in a container, it could be dead today... what should I do now? (I want to preserve it for a lifetime let's say.. as all collectors do. Lol)
Great video., i have read that Victorian entomologists used crushed young Laurel leaves in their killing jars i wondered if you have heard of this or the use this method..Best wishes
You're quite right, they did. They also made killing jars by putting cyanide crystals in a jar and covering it up with plaster of Paris; the fumes would soak through the plaster.
Good question. When I find some I will try to make a video at one point. I haven't seen many this year. I would use a sweeping net, but most of the time once you find mantises they are pretty easy to catch by putting a jar or container over them or catching by hand if you are extra careful.
i just started an insect collection.i currrently only catch butterflies,put them into an envelope and mark the species and date. i mostly kill them by squezing their thorax,this kills them in a matter of seconds,will this make them less valuable?
You can follow this video for a general idea. The colors might not last, but it could be a good start. The main thing that will be hard for you is cutting open the abdomen on the ventral side and then removing the guts to stuff with cotton or something else as a replacement. ua-cam.com/video/By2kK6lxxtM/v-deo.html
I have a question I hope you can help me with I live on eastern shore of Maryland and live about 100 yards from a marsh I've lived here most of my life and have always been drawn to animals so much I didn't fo to college because I wanted to be the guy in the water with sharks I'm a marine nut living 5 mins from the chesapeake bay any way when I was little I didn't mind spiders in there place I would feed them especially lil jumping spiders watching them jump on my hand with a meal was just amazing watching them they just looked like they were smart but as I get away from ? for the past couple of years I have noticed what I believe are a species of wolf spider around that I never noticed as a kid I have one pinned that I killed in the house that on my life from front rite leg to back left fully stretched would Be 5"but because i wanted to keep to show off he is stiff but waaayyyy to big to be in my home lol I don't harm them out side in fact I play or feed them but anyway is there a way to preserve him better or is it to late I have a box of big spiders and a wasp In my house it's old so I'm sure there is all kinds of ways in the deed said was built 1900 any help would be great I have pics if would help
I justed started catching bugs i normally dont..but i learn to do epoxy resins to preserve them to show them off and also to study them and learn about them..but it hurts me a little just to kill them for science but at least they die for a Good cause...
I couldn't kill any insect, spiders, preying mantises and moths i adore, I'd definitely collect and keep ones that passed away naturally but dont kill bugs for "fun" dude they're awesome js
What percent alcohol hot rob comes in several percents i got 50% 70% 91% list keeps going i want to keep the main colors and save there DNA if some one needs it please comment back
That's good. Its possible, but not a guarantee. All sorts of parameters can affect the body, temperature humidity sunlight etc... a tin can might be a good way to preserve for a few years.
Yeah, I'll endorse the freezer method. For some insects whose color can be destroyed by exposure to alcohol or ethyl acetate, the freezer is the best option because it won't discolor them.
For your awesome comment you get it pinned at the top! Yes I forgot to say this. Good point ol' friend!
Insect Hunter whenever i use the freezer method, it’s always discoloured my insects. i don’t know how this even happens! alcohol has always been my go to method.
Hi so there was an already dead blue dragonfly near our house and I plan to use the freezer method because I don't have acetone/alchohol as I've learned from other articles. Since it was dead its been air drying just on a counter, so it might already have the bugs that eat it. After putting it in the freezer I heard if it thaws fully it gets mushy too? Any tips. I'll be putting it in the freezer to kill the so-called bugs but how will it be okay when I finally mount/frame it? I also heard about resin so maybe I'll use that.
I was a new bug collecter and i put it in alcohol and i wondered why the coller was diffrent now i know
can we pin it after freezing it?
This helped me a lot my cicada recently died and I wanted to preserve them because they meant a lot to me
my mom literally screamed when she saw some dead beetles in the freezer
Mine will be slightly upset but I’ll hide him his name is tom
hahaha
😂😂😂
Lmao
My friends + family know to bring me dead things to shove in my freezer at this point.
When I was an entomologist in Juneau AK. (at the Federal Building) in the 1970s, our killing jars consisted of a lidded glass jar with a cotton disk at the bottom which was soaked with hydrogen cyanide.
It was quite effective, but needless to say you didn't want to breathe any of the cyanide fumes when the jar was uncapped for inserting or removing insects from it. :-O
If you detected the odour of almonds, it was too late, hahaha!!! ;-)
Good to know that there is a safer killing jar now! :-)
Yes things have changed! I would not recommend using cyanide although I have heard it is extremely fast at killing like you say. Thanks for watching!
my mantis died so im planing on putting him in opoxy resin
Awesome! Yeah I still haven't gotten the courage or had the time to try resins yet.
Ya I haven't done it yet Im going to have some test insects first to make sure I'm doing it right before I do my mantis.
good idea or you could do a rock or leaf of something just to see.
yep that could work
heres a video of some of the bugs im going to put in resin ua-cam.com/video/8GsBcWkFvhE/v-deo.html i might not do the giant water bug
I’m an exterminator and I often time bring home critters I find at work to put into resin. I drop them in a sample container with some alcohol than once I’m home pin/prop while they dry so that I have them ready to go!
since im not a scientist or anything, i prefer to find them already dead or take them if theyre still in good condition after theyve been killed, but either way, i have such an appreciation for the ones i have and have preserved and am in the process of preserving. their beauty astounds me and i have great respect for their lives :)
May I mention that you have oddly beautiful hands
*Yoshikage kira entered the chat*
That was nice 👍
Thank you. Inspiring video! What is the best way to preserve a tarantula? I presume it constitute as hairy insect and hence it will be either the freezer method or the acetone? Which method is the best for finishing the specimen in resin?
Good question! I have never done so myself before, but I would use this video as a start. The key thing you will have to do is dissect the abdomen (rip out the guts from the ventral side and then restuff with cotton balls or something). I hope this helps. It would be very difficult to do a tarantula in resin because of air bubbles getting stuck on the hairs. ua-cam.com/video/By2kK6lxxtM/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/pQKg4EYCihY/v-deo.html
At 8.25 minutes you talk about other people and your wife going through the fridge and finding insects.😂🕸🕷🦗🐞🐝🐜🦂🦋🐌😎
Brett Latulip yes lol!
Lol xD
Lol when my mother in law was house sitting our apartment they opened the fridge and found a bunch of my bugs that I've been freezing
I plan on catching and preserving insects for my 21st birthday this weekend and this video has helped me learn how to preserve them!
How can you? the pandemic is still on...
Ken Aquino I have a backyard to catch them in
@@INDYINDYBABY i see, didn't think of that XD btw, happy birthday! :))
Ken Aquino thank you!
I’m 10 and my pinning set will be here tomorrow I have a lacewing in the freezer right now lol
So I just found the *_BIGEST SPIDER IVE SEEN IN MY HOUSE_* I saw it literally flopping around the floor literally. Not sure where it came from. I wanted to save it because it looks really scary and I can say *_I actually found this spider in my house_*
I would simply die on the spot
A really good way to preserve Coleopteras is by putting them on a tube or container with a paper towel that has been saturated with 5% acetic acid (vinegar will do). The specimen will be really malleable thanks to the moisture and acidic environment, and no mold or other degrading things will grow. Also, it does a great job in preserving colours (at least while in the container).
Will it decay??
Interesting I had never heard of this. Thanks for sharing. I may have to try this out if I find a nice scarab or something similar.
Ray Benedict Susanto no, the acetic acid inhibits growth of all decaying agents, so the specimen stays fine. I know researchers who let beetles for years before pinning in this setup.
Insect Hunter that will be the most malleable beetle you will ever encounter. Dispatch it with a kill jar and in less than a day, transfer it to this setup. Leave it for a week (maybe less) to end the rigor mortis and the beetle will be ready for pinning. I have heard sayings of beetles lasting 10 years in these vials to be then pinned, but I keep mine for some months at most.
hm interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Hi. I have a black widow in a bag for my grandson. Will the freezer kill it? I don’t want to give him a live spider.
What might be a good way to find insects already dead? I am more interested in mounting specimen for art, not to study, so I see no point in killing for art.
I guess just look around the house or in nature, it’s pretty rare obviously but you might get lucky, I recently found two died butterflies by happenstance and got here cause I wanted to pin them
Try etsy or ebay, plenty of people are selling specimen :)
Pools! I am 7 months late but now that its summer time here and the pool is open I've been looking in pools and the little pool cleaner things (idk its the cubby hole things at the edge of the pool) and I found a ton of crazy bugs in there. My grandparents found a fully preserved Luna Moth (unfortunately the antennae fell off while I was working with it one time) and I once found a mallodon beetle, but it was actually alive and since at the time I didn't have any container I let it go (I regret it though, it was gorgeous)
This summer I actually plan to go to different public pools and see if I can collect any bugs there lol
@@makennastone6704 I clean pools, check the skimmer baskets for piles of small creature corpses.
(Frogs, Insects, Arachnids, Mice, Occasional Bird, snake)
Also literally all the time there is at least one insect making ripples In the pool water.
@@makennastone6704 the cubby things are called Skimmer baskets.
They collect stuff floating in the pool.
How to preserve black widows without their sacks shriveling up? I have tried twice but after 2 or 3 days the rear sack with the big red hourglass shrivels up.
It requires gutting the abdomen and then refilling with cotton. I don't have the patience for this.
Im going to attempt this in a few days. Im going to put it in the alcohol for about an hour or so to disinfect and to be able to move the legs without breaking them. Then i will pour a thin layer of resin place the spider how i want it and babysit it to watch for bubbles and floating. Then keep adding layers and letting cure inbetween layers until its done. Hopefully this will work and sense the resin is self setteling it will get in all the little tiny nooks and crannys and keep the spider preserved
@@shelby_sinister hey Shelby, that must have take immense patience and effort, did it work? How did the results turn out?
@@thumbaroundreversefingerme4786 it did work but the butt part deflated after the resin was cured so i drilled a small hole and scraped all tbe guts out and filled it with black resin still look good but would recomend the dry method
@@InsectHunter what’s the best way to keep it until I’m ready to do this-freezer or alcohol?
The achole method and the freezing mother are great. Thank you for the video
Does salts helps the specimen last longer? because the theories of using salts kinda mess my mind.
While at it,does it compulsory for us to oven the insects?
I have not heard of people baking the insects to preserve them or using salts. I am not aware of salts being using to preserve invertebrates, but I would be happy to learn more about the concepts.
Soo do you think this would be good for my tarantula I lost using alcohol?
yep
No, they have hair.
when I was 7 my grandmother's older husband passed away and I got a casted scorpion necklace that he made. It was casted in glass and looked really cool, this is how I got into bugs crafts and crap like that
Tarantula keeper here.Just found an albino cricket. Hoping the color stays after.
Oh My God
Cool!
Do I have to remove the guts from a may beetle? He's under an inch long but pretty bulky
What do you do after the bug is killed in alcohol?
Hi sir, just to be super sure because I'm paranoid in accidentally destroying a good specimen... So I found a (possibly) freshly dead carpenter bee, possibly Xylocopa Latipes, black shiny body with purple tinge wings, in my front garden and wanted to preserve it. I say "possibly freshly dead" is because I can still move its limbs but rigor mortis has started setting into one of its limbs... It's currently in a temporary container so yeah... So here are the main questions...
1. Since it's partially fuzzy and according to your video, the best way to preserve it would be the freezer method or the acetone method? I mainly want to preserve it for display, set it into a nice pose and mount it on a rock or branch and into a display case kind... Although I bet everyone would say pinning it would be better... Oh, and there's also the account of possible mold outbreak in this high humidity country I live in (Southeast Asia)...
2. What's the best/safest way to clean out a dead specimen found in the garden? Like I said, I'm so paranoid in accidentally destroying the specimen that I was trying and delicately using a damp cotton bud...
3. I got a liquid hand sanitizer of 51% ethyl alcohol and 10% ispropyl alcohol and my sister has something of 99% alcohol (she didn't mention exactly what but I'm still trying to find out)... According to your video, that's not really a safe idea for a dead partially fuzzy carpenter bee right?
yes I would not use chemicals to clean the specimen. This video here can help you figure out a good way to relax the specimen again. ua-cam.com/video/mKVlkthwq30/v-deo.html I have not tried cleaning a bee that is dirty so I don't know if this will work well or not, but I have two ideas for cleaning it. You must take care to try and not break anything either way. You could possibly try using a damp Q-tip or cotton swab and just moisten it slightly to clean off the insect. Another option is to use air to blow the dust off. You would need to find something like an aerosol can that sprays air under pressure but not too fast. Like something used to clean a computer. I think these are called air dusters. I would try doing one of those, but I have never tried either yet up to this point. If you do so please let me know and send me a picture of your specimen once you relax it. Until you relax it I would put it in the freezer but watch out for people putting heavy items on top of it that could break the specimen. Hope all that helps.
If you don't mind me asking. I am beginning to epoxy resin mounts. I have at the moment nothing. Can you suggest a set or kit to start with from Amazon? I don't know where to begin, but I have seen several of your videos and they seem the best to date on how to preserve them.
Other youtube channels I have seen are more of craft things, which is not what I wanted to get in. Thank you.
What’s the best one for Tarantulas?
Thanks for the acetone advice for the kill jar. I have a wooden adjustable setting platform I ordered from Carolina biological. Have yet to use it but this video def helps for the setup 👍
Thanks for this info. Would white vinegar work?
What would be the best way to preserve a mantis species? I want to get back into keeping them but I would love to save them after they pass away naturally in for my insect taxidermy collection. I don't always want to necessarily pin them so what would be the best way otherwise to keep them?
After killing I would do Resin or Diarama. There is a video on resin work on the channel. Working on a diarama video soon.
Are they stiff and not flexible when I put them in alcohol?
I don’t prefer alcohol because they writhe and swim and then their shape becomes contorted. I only use alcohol posthumously
Once their dead you just put them in alcohol? Do you use rubbing alcohol?
Kailani Capelouto
Yes, rubbing alcohol can work. Especially for soft bodied creatures like caterpillar and spiders
Vengeful Camel how long should I leave it in the alcohol? I want to put it in resin
Kailani Capelouto
If it’s an insect you can immediately put it in resin. There are many video tutorials on putting bugs in resin
Yes I hate that! I had a beautiful mantidfly I caught but as soon as I dropped it in alcohol it got all weird and stiff and it was hard to work with and it ended up bad.
In my experiences wasps and orthopterans are the worse in Alcohol. I'll freeze those. Every time I put any sort of orthopteran in there its legs stick straight out and its hard to put them back in their place
Found a bee on Saturday and it's almost Tuesday...I have it just in a box in my cupboard...do I need to put it in the freezer? I plan on relaxing and pinning probably Wed or Thurs
It probably needs to be rehydrated. Sorry for the greatly delayed reply.
How long does insects get preserved in hand sanitizer?
Would the acetone method/refrigerator work for killing and preserving a green fig beetle? Or would the acetone ruin the metallic shine?
The acetone should not ruin the metallic shine as you are not soaking them in it, plus much of insect color is actually made by minute micro holes and curves in the body so it shouldn't affect the color. I have even submerged shiny insects in alcohol before with little loss of color. The big group that usually loses color in my opinion is dragonflies.
Can you spray the insect with fixative under pins, then dry, then resin?
Its possible. Please watch my resin video for more details: ua-cam.com/video/BBFFw_QjTFc/v-deo.html
What do I do after the freezing? I have a big, beautiful dragonfly in my freezer, and would like to frame him. Can someone point me towards the right tutorial for frozen specimens? :)
Let it thaw out first for maybe 2-3 hours and then work on pinning it.
im wondering, i started collecting the past month casually because i thought it was fun and kept finding cool bugs on the ground, but i want to take it more seriously and preserve and pin them on a board. what should I do in order to get them to be less dry so i could shape them the way i want when pinning without breaking them? also how do i ensure the bugs don't decompose or cause mold while pinned?
im a newbie so i dont know much yet, but for the limb movements, you can get container (mostly just a secure and tight tupperware container)
then take a paper towel, soak it with water, and then squeeze all the water out so its moist, but not sopping wet.
you then place it at the bottom of the container, then place your insect on the damp paper towel.
you get another damp paper towel and then place it on the top on the insect. then put the lid on the container, make sure it closes all the way and is secure.
let the insect sit for 24 hours, the bigger the insect, the longer it will need to sit.
i hope this helps, for more info i recommend looking into it more.
Sorry for the very late reply. If you are getting into insect collecting feel free to reach out to me directly to get an invite to our discord channel. t-h-e-i-n-s-e-c-t-h-u-n-t-e-r (AT) gmail.com and I will send an invite.
Can I put the kill jar in the freezer? Or do I have to move my insects to a different container then freeze 🤔
So how do you persevere furry insects for future use? I have a freshly dead bumblebee and wanted to persevere it for future pinning
Hello, can we inject the chemical like acetone into insect body (butterfly/moth)? Thanks
I have never heard of doing something like this. With a fragile exoskeleton I don't think injections are really possible.
Try injecting yourself first see if it works lol
@@deanmaiden6202 I will pass on that. My body is way different from an insects anyways. I don't even have hemolymph in my body.
Injection into the body of big moth collected at night is very effective and good for preservation.
How can I preserve a butterfly, my problems are parasite, molds (sort of a web like), I got a bunch of dead butterflies I just put them in a box, when I checked on them couple of days after there all stuck on each other because of the mold so I cleaned it up by removing the mold like a stock web on to the affected specimen, after couple of days I checked on it again somes of the specimens heads and tails gone and the wings are ruined not only on the edges but also on the tail part when I checked it there's some holes on the tails of the butterflies
So how long do you keep the insect in the alcohol? I want to dry out a dead mantis I found and put it in resin
Sorry for late the response. I would keep it in for 5-10 minutes.
What was the white stuff in the killing jar?
Do you mean the plaster attached to the bottom of the lid? Or the home made one? It is a plaster type substance (usually plaster of paris) that is porous. It allows the chemicals to flow out and euthanize the insects.
Can freezing work on black widows
I found a dead Eastern Hercules beetle. Will it be destroyed if I put it in alcohol? The shell is hard and colorful.
I would not preserve it in alcohol since the colors could be affected. Pin it and spread it so you can show it off to everyone.
Ok so. I found a june bug struggling to move correctly and looking like it was dying. I put it in the jar like you said for 5 minutes. I pinned it on some foam, but didn't put any pins through it, just used pins to position the legs. It was like that for 2 days. The next day I went to look at it and it was gone!! I had it on a shelf away from where my dog could have gotten it, I don't have any other pets, and no one else was in the house, so naturally I was really freaked out. I found it on the shelf moving and walking around, not very well but trying to walk. I felt so bad I put it back outside. What happened?? What did I do wrong??
Perhaps I misspoke in the video, on an insect as big as a June bug I would leave it for at least a half hour or just throw it in the freezer. Sorry for the confusion. For larger insects it takes much longer to kill especially if they have a lot of bulk to them.
Sorry if im bit late but how will i be able to preserve my camel spider?
Is there a certain Percentage Alcohol , you used in the Jar?
70 to 90 percent ethyl or isopropyl alcohol solution
@@InsectHunter thanks you!!!!! . I'm a Hairstylist, so we use 90 , to disinfect,.. thanks Again, I'm a New Sub , just found your content like two days ago!!!
@@vincentcorrado37 Nice now you can be an insect stylist too!
LMAO,.. .I'll tell ya,.. I'd love to see the look in the Ladies faces if I put some in the Fridge where I Work 😂😂😂...
Also I live on Cape Cod, have you ever been???? It's a Touristy Summer Island in Massachusetts,.. actually it's the "Hook" of Massachusetts
How are they preserved once mounted?
The exoskeleton remains intact for years as long as an insect like a dermestid beetle doesn't get to them. These are insects that feed on exoskeletons, but they pretty much remain intact if not touched or disturbed.
Can putting insects which have been death for 3-4 days in freezer stop it from further rottening
how long should the insects stays in the freezer?
I pined a huge dragonfly and it lost its color and smells SO BAD! How do I prevent this from happening? Or is it normal?
Idk
What is that in the bag at 2:20?
Just a standard ziplock bag. I think gallon size.
@@InsectHunter uuummmm....what?
I asked what is IN the bag.
Are you messing with me?
@@jumbledmass5754I think a male extatosoma tiaratum
@@matteo5564 well I never knew these things existed, what weird looking creatures. Thank you!
@@jumbledmass5754 I actually had a breeding of those things a few years ago, they are some of the best insects you can keep as pets in my opinion
Thank you for these tips! I'm preserving a yellow jacket. This is my first time doing it.
How do you make them stay still in that box?
Can fungus or mold distroy ethanol
Best advice to freeze a spider without it curling up too much?
I think that there’s no method to preventing it unless you pinned it, spiders will naturally curl up when they’re dead. ua-cam.com/video/U71QfCzXthk/v-deo.html
Pin it! That's what i do, it works for me ^^
I have a pet black widow that died and I wanna preserve her. Would the alcohol be best bet?
Black widows are tough because I think alcohol will dry out their abdomen. I think it needs to be killed quickly then sealed in resin. Worked alright for me...
Hello to preserving insects like wasps and butterflies what is the solution used please ? Thanks really for you r helpful videos
The alcohol what type is it please ?
Let's break this down into two groups. Wasps- To not loose color I would use a freezer or kill jar to euthanize them and then you will pin them as shown in this video: ua-cam.com/video/mKVlkthwq30/v-deo.html. Obviously you would not have to rehydrate as shown in this video. Butterflies- do not use alcohol!!!!! EVER! For butterflies a freezer or kill jar works best. Make sure you have big jar with plenty of space for the butterfly to open and close its wings before preservation. Once the butterfly is dead then you will want to spread it which is a tedious process. Here is a quick video from some workers at Purdue showing how to spread them: ua-cam.com/video/fYbpGxYgqDY/v-deo.html.
Please Replyy, what will happen if i put an insect in the refrigerator. Then if i take the insect out of the refrigerator for a long period of time will it decay??
I would say that the refrigerator will likely dehydrate the insect and you will have to re-hydrate it eventually. The freezer works best because it prevents mold and most other pathogens. If you take it out once being in the fridge for over 3-4 weeks it probably won't be malleable, but will still dry out just probably not in the position you want. Does that help?
Yes.
Over night in the refrigerator is great if you want to photograph live insects that move quickly, like tiger beetles for example. As they slowly warm up you can usually get some good shots.
If the bug is alive and you capture it, how would I preserve it? I caught a venomous spider that was in my house and I wanna preserve it but I'm unsure how. It came back to life after a day in the freezer 😅😅
Again realy helpfull! thank you
You are welcome!
Can i use this asetone method on a juvenile chameleon?
I don't know. I have never tried preserving reptiles. Sorry I have no experience.
For reptile you must using Formaldehyde
What is the thawing process?
Just take them out of freezer and leave them alone for 12 hours. Then pin.
I used a kill jar, and all the insects I put in there survived. I thought they died, but I came back after pinning it and they were all moving and trying to get away
oh yeah it is usually better to leave them in there longer than shorter right!?
That is horribly cruel. There are plenty of naturally deceased insects to study.
@@wellredcreations yes, that is why I dont use kill jars any more. Also, taxidermy is an important part of biology, and there is an ugly side to it, but I can be very important to our understanding of the natural world. Then again, I'm not doing any important research, so I don't feel the need to kill anything.
Edit: also, I noticed I forgot to say that it actually just happened and was pretty traumatizing. I did not want to see them suffer. I'm not a psychopath
I found a morimus funereus yesterday and I put it in a container, it could be dead today... what should I do now?
(I want to preserve it for a lifetime let's say.. as all collectors do. Lol)
Great video., i have read that Victorian entomologists used crushed young Laurel leaves in their killing jars i wondered if you have heard of this or the use this method..Best wishes
I have never heard of this before. Sounds like a fun experiment I will have to keep my eyes open for some here in th U.S.
You're quite right, they did. They also made killing jars by putting cyanide crystals in a jar and covering it up with plaster of Paris; the fumes would soak through the plaster.
What about dipping into varnish?
never heard of that I am not sure.
I cant stop looking at the hair on your shirt
Great video very informative thank you.
You are welcome! Glad you learned something!
How to preserve human? ;')
It's been done-
Just uhh
Visit a museum 👀
That's my favourite insect
How to preserve long term?
Great job
You shouldn't kill bugs just for the sake of putting them in resin.
If it could possibly kill me, i aint taking any chances
How to get rid the smell in the insect i collected?
that is a tough question. I have not found a good remedy yet other than finding something that smells stronger and better.
The ladies will just have to understand 😎
Brett Latulip it’s been a while since I made this is this a reference to something I said in the video?
I threw my phone the moment I saw that caterpillar
Insect hunter, what is the best way to catch/handle a praying mantis?
Good question. When I find some I will try to make a video at one point. I haven't seen many this year. I would use a sweeping net, but most of the time once you find mantises they are pretty easy to catch by putting a jar or container over them or catching by hand if you are extra careful.
Thanks, because mantises are what I mostly collect and a video would be really helpful!
Btw the one that live here (Indiana) the stagmomantis kind are the most common
@@archegon1298 Awesome thanks for the info!
Your welcome
Thank you! You're very helpful!
i just started an insect collection.i currrently only catch butterflies,put them into an envelope and mark the species and date.
i mostly kill them by squezing their thorax,this kills them in a matter of seconds,will this make them less valuable?
4:22
what about a jumping spider
Hello I found a very rare monkey face golden insect how do I preserve it
You can follow this video for a general idea. The colors might not last, but it could be a good start. The main thing that will be hard for you is cutting open the abdomen on the ventral side and then removing the guts to stuff with cotton or something else as a replacement. ua-cam.com/video/By2kK6lxxtM/v-deo.html
I have a question I hope you can help me with I live on eastern shore of Maryland and live about 100 yards from a marsh I've lived here most of my life and have always been drawn to animals so much I didn't fo to college because I wanted to be the guy in the water with sharks I'm a marine nut living 5 mins from the chesapeake bay any way when I was little I didn't mind spiders in there place I would feed them especially lil jumping spiders watching them jump on my hand with a meal was just amazing watching them they just looked like they were smart but as I get away from ? for the past couple of years I have noticed what I believe are a species of wolf spider around that I never noticed as a kid I have one pinned that I killed in the house that on my life from front rite leg to back left fully stretched would
Be 5"but because i wanted to keep to show off he is stiff but waaayyyy to big to be in my home lol I don't harm them out side in fact I play or feed them but anyway is there a way to preserve him better or is it to late I have a box of big spiders and a wasp In my house it's old so I'm sure there is all kinds of ways in the deed said was built 1900 any help would be great I have pics if would help
Love insects! Thanks for the info!
Insect hunter, how do you preserve flies?
I would prefer kill jar or freezer. A lot of flies are hairy and fuzzy so the alcohol might mess with the hairs.
Thanks
I justed started catching bugs i normally dont..but i learn to do epoxy resins to preserve them to show them off and also to study them and learn about them..but it hurts me a little just to kill them for science but at least they die for a Good cause...
I couldn't kill any insect, spiders, preying mantises and moths i adore, I'd definitely collect and keep ones that passed away naturally but dont kill bugs for "fun" dude they're awesome js
Done this with a centipede🌝
We gotta get a new name for the kill jar guys 😅
I remembered I preserved a cockroach when I was a kid lol
Lol
🤙
thanks for watching!
@@InsectHunter I be high sometimes and idk how I found yo channel but I watch your shit 🤨😂 I be interested you get my like an sub brosik 💯
@@InsectHunter 🤔let's talk u keep wolf spiders?
Zach Basile I have once before why do you ask? Do you raise wolf spiders?
Bro you're a Rex Jones doppelganger
ha ha perhaps, but he ditched his glasses.
goo.gl/images/M5ZRUK
What percent alcohol hot rob comes in several percents i got 50% 70% 91% list keeps going i want to keep the main colors and save there DNA if some one needs it please comment back
Ive had a bug in a tin for 2 years
It hasnt changed much actually
That's good. Its possible, but not a guarantee. All sorts of parameters can affect the body, temperature humidity sunlight etc... a tin can might be a good way to preserve for a few years.
this will help with my witchcrafts
Roach afetr froszen for 900 years pepole Wow rare insect
And what about resin,I mean if you are not gonna use them for science.
I have not messed with Resin yet much, but I want to start trying it sometime. Hopefully soon.
I found a scarab beetle
tysm
I once got insect in my marbles!