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Post by satyrinae on Oct 10, 2016 20:59:32 GMT
Hi folks, I have been experimenting with genitalia lately and as a first try I went for a Satyrinae (obviously) - Pyronia cecilia male  What is your opinion on this slide? What could I do better Which anatomical part did I leave out? Any opinions are highly welcome as your suggestions would help me to develop better slides. Thanks. Jonathan p.s. I'm an accountant and not a scientist so apologies if I have made some basic mistakes.  |
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Post by mygos on Oct 11, 2016 6:46:16 GMT
It is a long time I haven't practice genitalia, but it seems that you left too much organic substances and you have to clean the genitalia better in order to only keep the chitin parts that will then become translucid ... Please excuse my english  A+, Michel |
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Post by Paul K on Oct 11, 2016 11:34:16 GMT
I read on other forum that is quite easy to prepare genitalia, by boiling or something like that?
I never tried though, is there any paper how to do it.
Paul
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Post by jshuey on Oct 11, 2016 13:07:11 GMT
Hi Jonathon,
The photos is pretty great - but the genitalia need to be cleared. To me, it looks like a dry dissection with no clearing (so that you can see internal sutures and such). Clearing the bug with KOH will produce a much better product. It's not that hard to do.
Dissolve one pellet of KOH in 0.5ml of water. Break off the abdomen, wet it with alcohol, and place it in the KOH solution. If you don't heat the solution, give it 6 hours. (I heat the solution in a boiling water bath - so it takes about one hour to clear for a normal sized abdomen). Take an artist paint brush and gently squeeze out the guts and brush off the scales. Then you can gently tease the genitalia from the abdominal suture. Store the genitalia in glycerin.
I've attached a plate showing why this is important (not the best photos in the world either!) - many of the differences internal - and won't show up in uncleared preparations. Note that the photos are of genitalia submerged in glycerin. This removes the glare from reflected light.
John Attachments:
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Post by satyrinae on Oct 11, 2016 18:07:40 GMT
It is a long time I haven't practice genitalia, but it seems that you left too much organic substances and you have to clean the genitalia better in order to only keep the chitin parts that will then become translucid ... Please excuse my english A+, Michel Thanks a lot Michel. Will definitely do. No Paul I don't have any literature on the matter. What I did was a purely home-based experiment using a microscope attached to my DSLR D80 camera through an adapter. Thanks a lot John for the detailed explanation. I will try to follow your guidelines and upload a second photo as soon as I have some time. What I did not understand is the last part of the glycerin. Do you put glycerin on a microscopic slide with the genitalia in the glycerin? |
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Post by jshuey on Oct 12, 2016 20:28:29 GMT
What I did not understand is the last part of the glycerin. Do you put glycerin on a microscopic slide with the genitalia in the glycerin?
I photograph genitalia in a porcelain well (Google this if you don't know what I'm talking about). Just fill a well up with clean glycerin, and sink the genitalia in the fluid.
John
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Post by Paul K on Oct 13, 2016 8:21:33 GMT
Is it possible to remove genitalia to prepare without removing and ruin abdomen ?
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Post by jshuey on Oct 13, 2016 14:39:34 GMT
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Post by Paul K on Oct 13, 2016 16:01:16 GMT
Good stuff, I have to try it on my next common specimen I catch. Paul |
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Post by satyrinae on Oct 13, 2016 20:53:23 GMT
Hi Paul,
I tried it and it works :-) You just need a good lens for the zooming.
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