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Starting a Collection

Starting a Collection a

Introduction:

Once you have obtained the basic collecting and mounting materials mentioned on our Getting Started web page, you are now ready to start hunting bugs and building a collection.  One thing to remember with studying insects with all of the equipment and supplies that are available is that it can be a very expensive undertaking, or, with a little ingenuity and creativity, it can be quite inexpensive--it depends upon you and your own unique situation.

 

Preparation:

The best way to kill any insect to place it in a killing jar that has been charged with ethyl acetate.  To charge a jar, pour about 1 oz. of ethyl acetate into jars, screw on lid and wait 20 minutes until plaster is fully saturated, then drain off any remaining liquid.  

If you have collected a butterfly or moth, another method is to gently but firmly pinch the thorax and place it into a glassine envelope.  This will stun the butterfly or moth.  Later on, place the glassine envelope into a protective rubbermaid-type sandwich container and place the container in a freezer.  Keeping dead specimens in a freezer helps to maintain their moisture for as long as possible making it easier to mount them later.

When you are ready to mount your specimen, make sure that you have A) a syringe filled with water to loosen up the specimen B) a mounting board  C) mounting pins D) 1.5 mil laminating film cut into small rectangular pieces [loose scrap from your school laminator works fine] E) an insect pin and F) your specimen.  Note:  All of these (except the specimen) are provided as part of your basic starter kit.  Click here for Vernon Evan's outstanding online presentation on how to mount butterflies.  (This might take a while to download if you're using dialup.) 

 

Mounting Butterflies - An Illustrated Guide:

(Click on any image for larger image)

Supplies Needed Leave dried butterfly in envelope. Cut envelope corners off to allow moisture to penetrate inside. In the relaxing chamber, layer butterflies between dampened (use water) rags or cotton, add moth crystals. Close lid and wait 12-24 hours. A relaxed butterfly almost feels like you just caught it! Antennae; wings should be flexible. Return to relaxing chamber if necessary.
Pinch the thorax to open its wings. Use index fingernail and thumbnail or forceps to pinch into wing muscles. Puncture thorax with pin to loosen muscles if necessary. Pinching more . . . opens wings even farther. A pair of spade tip forceps now becomes the essential tool. Help flex the wings. Slide forceps into the right or left set of wings. Grasp the wings with the forceps very close to the thorax. Wiggle those wings! Gently bend and wiggle the wings back and forth with forceps; not fingers. Repeat for both sides.
Opening the wings further and further. Using spade tip forceps, insert and push pin into and through thorax. Push pin until half-inch protrudes from underside. Leave 1/4 of pin above body; 3/4 through. Pin specimen into groove of mounting board, even with board surface.
Hold wings down, cut 1/4-in 1.5 mil lamination strips. Lay strip over left side of wings, close to body. Pin strip close to, but not through wings. Repeat for other side. Helpful Tip: the closer the lamination strips are to the body, the easier it will be to position the wings. Unpin lam strip and wing with thumb. With teasing needle or pin gently push along the main vein closest to the body. Position forewing so bottom edge in horizontal line. Repin lam strip close to wing! Unpin strip by hindwing. Use teasing needle or insect pin to guide the hindwing into position. Match patterns. Leave V between wings. Repin strip at hindwing edge.
Cover the rest of the wings with 1.5 mil lamination strips and quilting pins. Repeat these procedures for the other side. Finishing touches: Tip - Make an 'X' with two pins to hold antennae in place while they dry. Antennae should form a 'V'. Spreading and drying: try to get forewings on straight horizontal line. Dry 24-48 hrs. or 4-6 hrs in oven set to 140 degrees F. Alternative Method for Speed Relaxing: use water to inject the thorax. Dip antennae into hot water. Wait about a few minutes before spreading.

Special thanks to http://www.iannibutterfly.net for this graphic.

 

Organizing Your Collection:

Once you take your pinned specimens off of the mounting board, you are now ready to display them.  You can either display them in a cigar box, riker mount, field boxes, storage boxes, or an museum insect drawer.  If you cannot afford any of these, many large paper stores sell self-construct boxes that serve as nice displays for bugs for about $1 each.

As your collection grows, you can start displaying your material first by family, then by genus, and finally by species.

The Importance of Data Labels:

It is very important to attach data labels to every specimen collected.  One thing to remember is data attached to insects provide scientific value that is especially essential should the collection  ever be donated to a museum.   Data labels help confirm species distribution and taxonomic identity.  It helps further science.

Kids who are collecting insects for the first time should consider, although it can be kind of a nuisance for them,  placing this basic scientific information by utilizing a reliable word processor, inputting the information; printing it out on a laser printer onto 110 weight exact index cardstock, cutting out the label, and then placing it through an insect pin underneath the mounted specimen.

For some samples of data labels as inputted onto MS Word, please click here.  The breakdown of the data label is as follows:

 

Line 1: <Genus> <species> <gender>

Line 2: <altitude> <date>

Line 3: <general location>

Line 4: <distance from fixed well known topographical feature>

Line 5: <name of collector><county> <state>

 

 

Line 1: <Genus> <species> <gender>

Out in the field, it is always a good idea to keep a copy of a reliable field guide with you so that, not only can you identify the common name of a species you collected; but also, you can learn the scientific name that will be documented onto your data label.  An outstanding butterfly field guide for this purpose is "Butterflies of North America," by Brock and Kaufmann.

The internet can also provide valuable tools for you to identify the butterflies you collected in the field.  A complete listing of all Utah butterflies--both common names and scientific names--can be found here.  The Utah Bug Club website can assist you further as it breaks down all Utah Valley habitats, lists all species and subspecies, and even provides a description of each of these taxa--thanks to links to Paul Opler's USGS web site.

The previously-mentioned MS Word document also contains male and female gender symbols so that you can copy and paste them into your word processor.

Line 2: <altitude> <date>

Figuring out the altitude of the location of collection can be facilitated by going online and ultilzing mapquest.com.  Just fill in the blanks, and the online software program will help you pull up topographical maps that show elevational contour lines.

Line 3: <general location>

The general location is probably the easiest data to input.  All you need to document here is the name of the canyon, mountain peak, city park, residential street address, river, or lakeshore where you collected your specimen.

Line 4: <distance from fixed well-known topographical feature>

This information, although more difficult to isolate, can best be described as aerial miles from a fixed topographical feature such as a mountain peak, center of a lake, city monument, city center--for most of Utah is the intersection of Center and Main/State Street, etc.

For example, if some Utah Stella Orange-tips were collected at the mouth of Rock Canyon at say 5600,' one might put the data as Rock Canyon, 0.7 miles SW Squaw Mountain or 1.4 miles NE Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, 0.4 miles E LDS Provo Temple, or 2.8 miles NE Provo City (Center) = Center x University.  Measuring the actual distance from a spot of collection to a fixed topographical feature requires good mapping skills.  

Again, mapquest.com, can be helpful in providing the scale that can convert inches/feet into miles.  From there, the appropriate mathematical extrapolation skills are necessary to make the conversion.

An easier way to accomplish this is to purchase mapping software such as DeLorme's Topo USA, which has a built in radius distance calculator which can, in one step, make these calculations for you.

Line 5: <name of collector><county> <state>

The name of collector also is important in maintaining the scientific validity of any data record.  At the same time, most serious Utah collectors utilize an abbreviation system for the identity of Utah counties as well as the state itself.  For example, if Mary Smith collected those orange-tips at the mouth of Rock Canyon, the fifth line of her data label might say:  Mary Smith   Ut,UT--meaning Utah County, UTAH.

Three sample data labels are shown below.

The Importance of Keeping an Insect Journal:

Keeping a bug journal is also important to document important facts of any collecting excursion.  By doing so, data about conditions, species, and habitat is available for future jaunts and excursions.

 

Utah Bug Club is sponsored by the Utah Lepidopterists' Society.

 

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