The Society for the study of flies (Diptera)

It's always a bit tricky when a numpty novice like me wishes to pass on a tip to experts and non-numpties.
It can go one of two ways - you show yourself up or just now and again what you have to say may be of interest.
I've never ever worried about showing myself up but I can only hope this is of interest.

My prime reason for collecting hoverfly specimens revolves around taking close up shots that show salient features for ID purposes.
Once I have finished with the specimen they are shipped off to Roger (Morris) for final confirmation of identification for my submitted records.

To begin with the big issue for me was how specimens changed as they dried and in particular the deterioration in the eyes.
I can understand now why people who have looked at specimens for years are reluctant to venture into ID from photos - dry specimens and photos of live specimens are a world apart in colour etc.

To cut a long story short I came up with this solution which suits my purposes fine.
All specimens are dispatched using Acetone free nail varnish remover, pinned and placed inside of an air tight plastic box (I blag these from local sweet shop)
Along side of the specimens I place a single Wet wipe (containing moisturiser) - Wilkos own brand work well.
With the lid firmly in place the box then sits in my very warm, tiny computer room on top of one of my servers (so gets even warmer)
This evaporates the moisture in the wet wipe (it is changed when dry and moisture is regularly wiped from the inside of the lid etc to prevent specimens getting dripped on)
The specimens have never seen the inside of a fridge or freezer and seem happy with that.
The only time they go in the fridge is when I bag them up individually to send to Roger.
I can't testify to the archive possibilities but certainly for a period of a few weeks it seems to be a decent method of keeping specimens fairly "fresh"

This had been in "The box" for two weeks prior to photographs


Some of these specimens have sat in this warm box for over three weeks waiting to be photographed - each is still very flexible and "bendy"

Last edited by Jaybee (2016-08-08 11:29:22)