JonIverson
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2017
- Messages
- 49
I had the luxury of being at the right place and at the right time and finding several male and female reddish brown stag beetles. Two of them (male and female) were already close to dead when I found them and shortly died thereafter and I have them frozen in the freezer; the other two males are still alive in some cans and I have been feeding them maple syrup and banana pieces, both of which seem to be keeping them going.
After not having seen these beetles in my area for many, many years, I'd like to keep them permanently after expiration by embedding in resin. I researched and found a thread on it from here several years back and I've come across Youtube and other videos, but most of the information seems to be incomplete, either concentrating on a simple embedding, without going into any detail about specimen drying and preservation, etc, or vice versa. Sometimes I'm coming across decent information, but too many ways are presented making it difficult for me to determine the best method. I'm hoping with this thread that I can narrow down my choices.
I need definite information on such topics as: 1) whether or not these stags need to be gutted and, if so, what is the best way; 2) best drying methods; 3) not too costly resin that will NOT yellow over time; 4) mold ideas, to make or not to make (some people use pyrex glass dishes as mold?).
My inclination is to first dethaw a couple of the beetles, find the best method to gut them, mount, and then place into a sealed jar with silica gel all around and possibly on top of the beetles and a few flakes of moth balls mixed throughout. Let this sit for a week or so and then proceed onto the embedding process. It would be nice to trial and error this, but with the cost of the resin each time and the fact that I have limited specimens available, I'd like to get this right the first time, even if it takes longer.
I welcome any advice provided. Thank you in advance.
After not having seen these beetles in my area for many, many years, I'd like to keep them permanently after expiration by embedding in resin. I researched and found a thread on it from here several years back and I've come across Youtube and other videos, but most of the information seems to be incomplete, either concentrating on a simple embedding, without going into any detail about specimen drying and preservation, etc, or vice versa. Sometimes I'm coming across decent information, but too many ways are presented making it difficult for me to determine the best method. I'm hoping with this thread that I can narrow down my choices.
I need definite information on such topics as: 1) whether or not these stags need to be gutted and, if so, what is the best way; 2) best drying methods; 3) not too costly resin that will NOT yellow over time; 4) mold ideas, to make or not to make (some people use pyrex glass dishes as mold?).
My inclination is to first dethaw a couple of the beetles, find the best method to gut them, mount, and then place into a sealed jar with silica gel all around and possibly on top of the beetles and a few flakes of moth balls mixed throughout. Let this sit for a week or so and then proceed onto the embedding process. It would be nice to trial and error this, but with the cost of the resin each time and the fact that I have limited specimens available, I'd like to get this right the first time, even if it takes longer.
I welcome any advice provided. Thank you in advance.