Odonata

Dear professionals and amateurs! Tell me if you're not particularly knowledgeable. There is a desire to make a collection of dragonflies. Question: are there any special features of catching , soaking, drying, straightening, pricking or pasting these insects? Any information is only welcome.

Thank you in advance.

They are discolored in collections : - (Personally, as an amateur, not a professional, I do not know how to counteract this fact.

Catch - with a net. A very fun and adventurous activity if we are talking about watchmen and rockers, flying over the water or on the edges. Zamarivat by placing in acetone - and there to stand nesk. hours. The dragonfly then becomes stiff, but you can straighten it out. But the color is preserved for a long time, at least my watchers were blue and green, and remained so. The rocker arm has retained a beautiful red color with colored spots. Without soaking in a solvent, everything becomes brown or discolored.

Catch - with a net. A very fun and adventurous activity if we are talking about watchmen and rockers, flying over the water or on the edges. Zamarivat by placing in acetone - and there to stand nesk. hours. The dragonfly then becomes stiff, but you can straighten it out. But the color is preserved for a long time, at least my watchers were blue and green, and remained so. The rocker arm has retained a beautiful red color with colored spots. Without soaking in a solvent, everything becomes brown or discolored.

And exactly how much time to stand?

This post was edited by Dr. Niko - 06/21/2007 13: 46

In order for the abdomen not to discolor (in large species), internal organs are removed from it and a small stick (for example, a toothpick) is inserted inside.

Sergeich will probably be able to explain the best thing about dragonflies, he is just engaged in dragonflies. Try contacting it.

Yes, I can't tell you much about the above. I don't soak it in acetone after several attempts, I collect collections for pure science, so everything is mostly stored in envelopes and on mattresses. Usually, the color is changed by large species such as rockers and watchers. Large grandmas (such as macromia) and grandparents are preserved without problems, if you do not allow the material to rot. With all the others, there are also no problems, they dry well and do not change color. All sorts of canes are inserted into the abdomen if you need to increase the strength of museum specimens. In general, when collecting a collection of dragonflies, stock up on glue, it will often be needed. In terms of fishing, everything is simple. Pick up the net and go. Small animals-equal-winged birds-are caught on the fly and when mowing, large animals - on the fly. A real hunt. Especially on males in species with pronounced territorial behavior. No matter how many times they get hit on the head with a net, they still return to their place until they catch it, and after a short time another male takes this place. The females are worse, they are constantly hiding. In general, if you have any specific questions, please contact us.

I still don't understand. How to avoid color loss?

In many cases, no way. Try acetone, but otherwise, as luck would have it. Sometimes, by some miracle, they don't fade, but most of them do...

Perhaps a combination of exposure alternately in alcohol and acetone for 2, and then 1 hour will help.The only time I spent was 2 hours in what, and 1 hour in hf. The method was used by Dano when he was engaged in dragonflies as an amateur. The result depends on the age of the dragonfly and the harvesting conditions.