Do beetles get lighter in formalin?

I've never had a single beetle lighten up. Most likely, an under-colored copy.

Thank you, maybe so, because prsp. it is still two-tone, with yellow edges and the rest is brown (darker than the nadkr.).

Beetles in formalin can lighten if they are painted in bright colors-red, orange, yellow, green (not meaning metallic shiny beetles). After lying in formalin for a long time, they gradually discolor to a dirty white color, but not in three days, this is a matter of several years. Brown and black beetles in formalin do not change their color. I.e. ladybugs, cassids, mold eaters, bright beetles (such as lebia), etc.

In general, formalin is disgusting. I got a small, small drop in my eye once. I don't remember running that fast before I went to the bathroom. My fingers are then slippery and hard, as if it's not clear what they were doused with. Although I will not underestimate the characteristics where it is needed. But definitely not in the trap jar, that's no offense. I don't mention the smell.

This post was edited by Trofim - 24.10.2007 16: 29

Just the same in trapping banks, it is irreplaceable if you plan to check it once a month. Of course, he is very stale material, but here we have to find a compromise...

That's the sense in which I thought of something in mordants .

In general, formalin is disgusting. I got a small, small drop in my eye once. I don't remember running that fast before I went to the bathroom. My fingers are then slippery and hard, as if it's not clear what they were doused with. Although I will not underestimate the characteristics where it is needed. But definitely not in the trap jar, that's no offense. I don't mention the smell.

Once in the Carpathians, I ran down a mountainside in the heat for some flying beetle.I never caught the bug. But steamed up and with a decent shortness of breath in puffs, he grabbed a bottle of water from his backpack and took a sip...
There was a strange sweet taste in my mouth that immediately turned into an unpleasant sensation. He spat it out instantly.But I did manage to take one sip. I looked -and instead of water in the same plastic bottle 4% formalin solution. I called a doctor I knew ,who "made me happy" with the prognosis for my health. I had to quickly run down to the spring and immediately do a gastric lavage. After that, with an alarming fear for your health (fear has big eyes), go down to the settlement. Fortunately, everything went without complications.But the trip was ruined
After that, I always drew a skull on the lid of the CD market.
Currently, he refused formalin.

in my opinion, the method of pouring salt into the fixative works, the material does not become stale and replaces the nasty formalin well in all respects.
Beetles really lose their color when lying down for a long time, sometimes a month is enough, sometimes a year.
Although, if you work with beetles in various nonsense, they can become softer.. My beetles alone lay in formalin for a long time, then in alcohol for a long time, then I soaked them in water, and as far as I remember, the beetle became relatively soft, it was possible to straighten it..

Is it possible to use a weak solution of acetic acid? Someone told me that it preserves the material well and does not get stale.

Here I can only say that there is absolutely not enough vinegar for a month - the beetles are rotting. But for a week - quite.

Formalin is really good if traps are not checked for a long time and the material is needed in ecological and faunal studies. But it's terribly harmful. I have after an hour of analysis of such material, the mucous membrane of the eyes and nose is burned, the skin on the fingers (the first sign is sliding).
About the impact on the material. I did not notice any changes in the color of ground beetles, the straptera that accidentally fell were strongly discolored. Well frogs are preserved as if they were alive . Ground beetles also somehow spoil differently from formalin. Harpalus, for example, become so brittle that they lose half of their limbs after the first pricking operations. But Brachinus for some reason is not fragile, as if killed by ethyl acetate.
In my opinion, formalin catches better than vinegar.
But it is better not to pour anything (only loose substrate such as soil), check at least once every 2-3 days and use funnel-type elements in the trap so that the beetles do not run away.

I have after an hour of analysis of such material, the mucous membrane of the eyes and nose is burned, the skin on the fingers (the first sign is sliding).

I wash it in water

I wash it in water before disassembling it

I also washed, but... If I didn't wash it, there probably wouldn't be much left of me

I have after an hour of analysis of such material, the mucous membrane of the eyes and nose is burned, the skin on the fingers (the first sign is sliding).
About the impact on the material.

What is the concentration of formalin you used? The symptoms are 40% similar.

What is the concentration of formalin you used? The symptoms are 40% similar.

At the Department of Zoology, I was given a bottle (1 liter) of sedimentary 40%. They told me to add boiling water and use a clear supernatant liquid (they say it will be about 4 %).
This bottle was enough for me for a long time.

At the Department of Zoology, I was given a bottle (1 liter) of sedimentary 40%. They told me to add boiling water and use a clear supernatant liquid (they say it will be about 4 %).
This bottle was enough for me for a long time.

The precipitate, if it is white, is a paraform polymer of formaldehyde, it depolymerizes when heated and the concentration increases, so when diluted with boiling water, water should be taken more than 9 parts, taking into account the paraform, then 4% will be obtained.

Formalin is really good if traps are not checked for a long time and the material is needed in ecological and faunal studies. But it's terribly harmful. I have after an hour of analysis of such material, the mucous membrane of the eyes and nose is burned, the skin on the fingers (the first sign is sliding).
About the impact on the material. I did not notice any changes in the color of ground beetles, the straptera that accidentally fell were strongly discolored. Well frogs are preserved as if they were alive . Ground beetles also somehow spoil differently from formalin. Harpalus, for example, become so brittle that they lose half of their limbs after the first pricking operations. But Brachinus for some reason is not fragile, as if killed by ethyl acetate.
In my opinion, formalin catches better than vinegar.
But it is better not to pour anything (only loose substrate such as soil), check at least once every 2-3 days and use elements such as funnels in the trap so that the beetles do not run away.

The drug is better or worse caught on formalin. In the ninth grade, I did a study-I studied retainers. It seems that there is no statistically significant difference between formalin and vinegar, but there is a difference between formalin / vinegar and water. ( but again, I'm going to redo them again in a big way, and I think in some genera like Amara, I didn't define everything perfectly. Yes, and staphylinids were enough.