Tools

What you will need:

• A small stainless saucepan for boiling water.

  You will need this during the relaxing process. If you don’t have one, check thrift and second hand stores,
  or stores that sell overstock and discontinued items like Home Goods for reasonable prices.

• Insulin syringes.

  For the relaxing process. These may be difficult to obtain depending on the pharmacy and/or potentially state
  laws. In my State, it is legal to sell them without having an insulin Rx, however it is up to the pharmacy manager
  whether they will do it or not and some pharmacies such as Walgreens will not do it as a matter of company policy.
  If you are asked by the pharmacist what you want them for, just be honest, that’s what has worked for me. Keep them in
  good shape and you should be able to reuse them.

• A resealable food container

  Large enough for your insect and deep enough to hold some materials. I personally use a approx. 5hx5wx4d inch container.

• A second resealable food container

  For the acetone relaxing method.

• Translucent Scrapbooking Vellum.

  For both the relaxing and spreading process. Found in the paper crafting section of craft stores, a large 12”x12”
  sheet is usually less than $1. It isn’t traditional vellum, but actually paper-thin plastic. Translucent is ideal so that
  you can see through it and re-adjust your insect if anything goes wrong.

• Scissors for cutting the vellum.

• Paper towel or a clean rag.

• A piece of flat styrofoam for the spreading process.

• An X-acto-style knife.

  For cutting and carving the styrofoam.

• Third hand tweezers.

  That’s the name I bought them under from a jewelry supply store that no longer sells them. I’ve seen similar online
  and in stores that sell sewing or jewelry supplies; they can go by different names. Try looking for fine tip curved
  jewelry tweezers when searching online. The point is that they have an extremely fine, thin tip and bend that makes
  pulling on insect wings when spreading much easier than standard eyebrow tweezers. They’re also really great for slipping
  between spider webs and an insect, and greatly aid in removing web. They average $5-$12. Although they aren’t 100% necessary,
  I highly recommend them for making your life easier. Similar staineless tweezers on amazon that are currently $5 USD.

• Straight pins.

  For the spreading process on the vellum. Can be found at sewing supply stores and walmart for a few dollars.

• Insect Pins.

  Another thing that’s not totally necessary but will make your life easier. For the spreading process to mount the insect
  to the styrofoam. They’re a little pricey for a few pins, However, I found while using regular straight pins, they often got
  stuck in the insect and required flush cutters to remove the ends of the pin. Insect pins are a smaller diameter and remove
  cleanly much more often than straight pins. I think mine are size 0, which works well for all but the tiniest insects. Can be
  purchased online, search for insect mounting pins.

• Acetone. (optional)

  While the boiling water and syringe method is effective for most types of insects, for dragonflies and grasshoppers, you
  will need this for color preservation during the relaxing process. Without it, these specimens will quickly lose color once dried.
  Get the harsh hardware store stuff, not the stuff for artists brushes as it’s usually more diluted and often contain conditioners
  for the brush bristles. Use only in a well ventilated area.

• A roughly palm sized piece of glass.

  For the acetone relaxing method; is explained in that section.

• Riker mounts or shadow boxes.

  Rikers are my preferred display, they have padding that cradles the insect, are easy to re-open if needed for pest management
  or adjusting your insect. They also have an area on the back for you to write a species name and location. They are available in a
  variety of sizes and depths. For years I used BioQuip as a source for these, but they are out of business now. Try
  thebutterflycompany.com for individual (not wholesale lots) mounts. Whoever you go with, just make sure that you’re buying from
  a reputable source and check reviews if possible. I got specimen destroying tiny dermestid beetles (aka museum lice) from an ebay
  seller of these once. If you must buy from ebay, you may want to see the pest management section before using them, which may be best
  practice, regardless.

  Instead, you can use shadow boxes, which are available in many sizes from craft stores. With this method, you’ll leave the pin in
  the insect, so either use insect pins or straight pins that don’t have big, colorful, distracting heads.

Next: Relaxing