Hi everyone,
Yesterday I found that my L. parahybana male had his final molt and matured into a very leggy beast. I was able to grab his perfectly in-tact exoskeleton and lay it out on the table. I've always wanted to try a mount so I ran out to a craft store to buy a shadow box. I cut a piece of corrugated plastic, wrapped it in an old white sheet, and carefully mounted the molt onto it.
The molt itself was still wet and pliable so I was able to manipulate the legs and stuff the abdomen with some black yarn that I shredded so I could make it the right shape. I closed it up for the picture, but have since opened it up to let the molt dry completely. Each leg and pedipalp is secured to the fabric with super glue and there is one pin in the carapace.
Here are a few pictures of the process and the finished product. Enjoy!
Yarn balled up and stuffed inside abdomen.
Finished!
Yesterday I found that my L. parahybana male had his final molt and matured into a very leggy beast. I was able to grab his perfectly in-tact exoskeleton and lay it out on the table. I've always wanted to try a mount so I ran out to a craft store to buy a shadow box. I cut a piece of corrugated plastic, wrapped it in an old white sheet, and carefully mounted the molt onto it.
The molt itself was still wet and pliable so I was able to manipulate the legs and stuff the abdomen with some black yarn that I shredded so I could make it the right shape. I closed it up for the picture, but have since opened it up to let the molt dry completely. Each leg and pedipalp is secured to the fabric with super glue and there is one pin in the carapace.
Here are a few pictures of the process and the finished product. Enjoy!
Yarn balled up and stuffed inside abdomen.
Finished!
