collecting bugs

[hilty1966 0]

what solutions do you use to preserve insect collections??

 

regards sean

[JasonN 0]

Electrons.

 

But for the handful that I preserve physically instead of using digital photography, I use isopropyl alcohol. It's not the best, but it works well enough for non-professional purposes and you can get it really cheap at your nearest whatever-mart.

[mcfly 0]

Probably want to PM JasonN on that. He likes bugs so much its down right scary.

 

Troutnut.com is his site I believe.

[tdeyette 0]

You know, I have often thought of taking some nymphs from the places I fish so I can duplicate them at the fly tying desk. However I read this in the New York fishing regulations:

 

Aquatic Insects

No aquatic insect (or any insect that lives in the water during any of its life stages) shall be taken from waters inhabited by trout, or from the banks of those waters, at any time.

 

I guess I would say to check your state regulations to be sure that you don't get a fine.

 

If I were to collect bugs, I would try the isopropyl alcohol in a jar approach

 

Tom

[nightfish 0]

A really cheap preservative is everclear...yes, the key ingredient of Jungle Juice. Works fairly well, but it's not perfect. Stef & I save quite a few bugs, and she went all out & ordered some stuff from a chem house. I can't remember them all, but I know one of them is called Cellusolve.

 

The hardest ones to preserve true color with are bugs with green tones. The bugs usually bleach out, leaving the solution with a green tint. A couple of years ago, we were hanging out on Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone watching the fish, and there were these cool little bright apple green stoneflies all over the place...about a #14/16. We grabbed some, vialed them up, and in about 5 minutes they had faded to a light PMD shade. Bummer. We didn't see any last year to try the new solution with, so I don't know if it'll work or not.

 

Some fly shops also carry a solution called "Bug Balm". Pre-mixed, but a little spendy.

[hilty1966 0]

does any one have any experience of using a formaldehyde solution???

 

regards sean

[Tim Smith 0]

I use formalin it works great but its wicked unhealthy for you

-T

 

[Alex C. 0]

I just read in a book today to use 80% denatured alcohol / 20% glycerine. Hope this helps

[JasonN 0]

I don't actually preserve many of my insects. The reason I got into

photographing them was that I wanted to keep track of their natural colors

and preservation seemed to destroy that. I do preserve a few, and I just

use 70% isopropyl alcohol (like 12 cents a bottle at Wal-Mart) but that's

the cheapest, easiest way to do it and doesn't preserve their color well

at all.

 

I have, however, read about one process that supposedly preserves color

perfectly. It's kind of complicated, but apparently it works. It was

developed by Al Caucci and Bob Nastasi and described on page 294 of their

book Hatches II. (I'm afraid I'm 1200 miles from my copy of the book at

the moment, but I've referred people to it before so I have the page

number on hand.) The book's a very worthwhile purchase for many reasons,

or perhaps you can find it through a library.

[Alex C. 0]

What's a good, cheap, container to store them in? And where can you get them?

[Tim Smith 0]

you can get glass vials with plastic caps for storing them

medical supply places or stores that cater to people who pan for gold. (they use em to store gold dust) should have them for cheap

 

http://www.minerox.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=836

 

as for loosing colors I was reading that with stone flies if you boil them for a short ammount of time (read seconds) in ethel alcohol they will retain their color.

 

-T

 

 

[Alex C. 0]

Thanks Tim, I appreciate it, I'm not sure the bugs will though