How to preserve the green color of Heteropteryx dilatata?

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ИНО, 07.10.2016 0:21

The last female stick insect in the current generation, Heteropteryx dilatata, has died today. The specimen is large (25.5 g), without damage. I would like to perpetuate it in this form:

http://www.phasmatodea.com/image/image_gal...t=1234359154058

But with this type of stick insects, I inevitably have a problem: when drying, each time the abdomen becomes almost black. Please advise me on how to avoid this. With dybki darkening I managed to avoid, by pre-soaking in alcohol, but as a result, the color was still unnatural, waxy yellow. And here I would like to preserve the natural bright green color as much as possible. Maybe removing the innards will help? Or do you need some special retainer? Or forced drying, for example, in the oven? After all, it turns out the same from other collectors, photos of dry specimens with perfectly preserved color in the network mass. Time to make a decision is short, from past experience I know that a significant darkening will occur in three days.

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07.10.2016 14:22, ИНО

Taki conducted an experiment with a microwave oven. Naturally, the decision is preliminary. His sawyere wasn't completely dry. But the wings are worse - they broke a little. But they were far from perfect during her lifetime, because the female died of old age. Over the design was straightened out had to suffer a lot. to keep everything metal-free. The result is rather negative - in 30 seconds, the green color turned into lemon yellow, and in some places even golden. By the way, such a morph in this species is also sometimes found. But with alcohol, I could have achieved a similar result, but I still wanted to keep the green one. But a negative result is also a result, and we will delete the microwave oven from the list of possible options for the future. Now the most interesting thing is whether it will get dark or not. In theory, the bacteria should have been well nailed. Another bonus is that the abdomen is swollen, as if in the prime of reproductive age. But, unlike the latter, not at the expense of the ovaries, which would rot for a long time, but at the expense of steam, which theoretically should be kneaded with air. We'll have to try the same thing on our erect wings, because they inevitably turn yellow anyway. And then with alcohol now very expensive in financial terms is obtained.