Drying specimens fast.

LarvaHunter

LarvaHunter

Eudicella
I usually use a low power bulb to dry big specimens fast, but I am going to try my food dehydrator.

Does anyone see any problem with this method (I plan on keeping it at 105F)?

I think the faster the specimen is dried the better. I just hope their joints don't become too brittle.

 
Update, dried a huge yellow hairy scorpion as a test. It worked like a charm, colors look good and I pinned it in a realistic lifelike position

Under a light right at the end while it was fairly malleable, I'm going to scare my friend real bad with it
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It will work with beetles, If discoloration may be an issue this may be the key. Besides freeze drying.

 
Apparently the best way to taxidermy is freeze drying, they freeze dry moth/butterfly and beetle larvae/pupae and other soft bodied or hard to dry things without discoloration. The Smithonian Institution uses this for their birds and soft bodied creatures on display. I'm going to see if a florist or taxidermist nearby will let me use their freeze drying equipment.

 
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Unless it is very big and soft bodied, normal air drying at room temps works fine for nearly every type of insect, no need to freeze dry it.

 
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Matt,
I was talking of drying soft bodied insects like beetle larvae, and pupae, this is what they do in proper museums, insects like katydids,grasshoppers,and scorpions lose their color with normal drying. And it's the only way to have a huge beetle larvae with all the organs inside and looking alive.

I just wanted to let people here know.This is what is done.
More collectors want larvae specimens together with their beetles to show the whole life cycle.

On Ebay type in taxidermy larvae, you all will be amazed.

There is also a seller there called perfect-insects which has great specimens.

 
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Thanks for the suggestion Bill. It turns out to freeze dry properly you need a vacuum pump, and vacuum chamber, also a cold trap. Even DIY is pretty expensive.

I found a guy with a machine, he said he will freeze dry some of my beetle pupae and larvae for free!

 
I will keep you updated.

Berkley has a really good paper on modern insect preservation. The article states that you can freeze dry

cheaply with the insect in an airtight container with dissicant inside the freezer, it just takes longer.

nature.berkeley.edu/.../Techniques.doc‎

If above dosent come up in google type in

Techniques in Entomology Spring 2007

 
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