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Post by joniverson on Aug 14, 2019 22:32:30 GMT
I live in an area of the US where I have only recently started using my standard butterfly traps. However, the weather has been hit and miss for butterflies. I find from the past that they would frequent the traps most often when the temps are in the 80's or 90's and very humid. That has not been the case lately. My question concerns the banana mash. The mash I use is mostly Nigel Venter's recipe, which is mainly banana, sugar and a bit of yeast. How can I extend the bait's life after making? Nigel says that such bait has a normal lifetime of like 5-7 days when used at room temperature and above, but it may be close to that before I get decent weather once again, and I've already made a couple of batches. Can I refrigerate it to extend lifetime? What about freezing?
On a separate issue, is there any way to rapidly ripen bananas other than the paper bag and warm temperature tricks? I recently tried an experiment that failed. The local supermarket here (Walmart) keeps only well green bananas in stock. In the past, I've asked them about possibly obtaining over-ripened ones and my request was refused. So, I usually place about 4-5 in the bag and try to expose to as warm of temps as I can. Even so, it usually takes at least 2 weeks, sometimes even more! I read online that a banana can be quickly riped by placing in the oven at 250-300 F until the skin turns black. I tried it and it seemed to work... until I tried using it in the bait recipe. No matter how long I let the bait sit and in the sun, etc, it wouldn't ripen any further. My guess is that I must have "sterilized" banana ripening this way. Any thoughts on this would be welcome also.
Thank you in advance.
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Post by joniverson on Nov 3, 2017 20:44:15 GMT
billg, that's exactly what I did when making the dome in early Oct. Worked like a charm and you can't tell there was a repair done. I also found a fast dry version of Elmer's that has worked great with broken off antennae.
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Post by joniverson on Nov 3, 2017 20:39:23 GMT
Since my July reply, I have mainly been using a carefully temperature monitored toaster oven for 90% of my lep drying. I mount them on the mounting board a short time after capture, then place the lep/ board into the oven. Temperature averages 120 F. After 12 hours, wings are stiff enough that I can remove pins and strips for use on additional specimens captured. No additional curling has been noted and I will leave the resulting unmounted specimens in the oven for a least a week for small specimens, two weeks for large. After the time, I remove the specimen, then add it to a plastic see through air tight container containing both silica gel and moth balls. Each container has a humidity meter to make sure it stays under 10%. This is how they are stored until I'm ready to mount in frames or, in my case, hermetically sealed acrylic containers for display. The display containers also have hidden silica gel and moth balls.
I also experimented successfully with freeze drying caterpillars in early October. This involves using a combination of desiccant and frozen specimen under vacuum in the freezer for a period of time (2-3 weeks) until dried. This is the only method I found to properly preserve caterpillars without distorting the body or blackening.
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Post by joniverson on Oct 20, 2017 18:49:20 GMT
After a lot of trial and error trying to preserve the caterpillar, I finally have this nearly complete life cycle of the Monarch completed. Only the tiny egg is missing. It is housed inside a hermetic sealed acrylic canister, with the top removed for this image.
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Post by joniverson on Oct 15, 2017 0:31:05 GMT
Just an update since my initial post. I found shadow boxes and domes allowed enough outgassing of moth balls as to cause me to decide not using them. This was even after I sealed the domes, I guess the wooden bases had enough porosity to allow the gases to ventilate. After an attempt at shellac coating the bases with several coats and this still not working, I decided to go with hermetically sealed acrylic canisters of the proper size. They have been the only somewhat esthetically pleasing container that doesn't allow moth ball gases to escape. I transferred my dome bases that were already made with lep environments directly into the canisters, added both silica gel and moth flakes and sealed. I placed a humidity meter in one for seal confirmation; if the humidity didn't drop significantly and stay there, more likely than not the containment would be too leaky; so far, so good with the hermetic seals.
I ended up using my own wood. I baked several pieces for 24 hours at 225 F in the stove some months back. There has been no evidence of critter activity since and they are now part of the lep environment.
This has been quite a learning process for sure, and also somewhat costly.
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Post by joniverson on Oct 8, 2017 16:07:25 GMT
At some point, I may need to ship some dried beetles, wasps, and butterflies. While I see how butterflies are packaged after ordering some online (basically sandwiched between cotton layers), I am unsure about beetles and wasps as the legs and antennae are a lot more prominent once dried. Thanks for any suggestions.
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Post by joniverson on Sept 22, 2017 7:53:25 GMT
Exactly as in the subject, I'm fishing for ideas as to how to make a mold of a butterfly chrysalis? They seem quite fragile, so not sure how to go about it. Thanks!
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Post by joniverson on Sept 21, 2017 13:36:34 GMT
Can we see the other side? Well, I'd have to get my camera back out and set it up on the tripod (not enough light to hand hold and flash burns highlights), but there's nothing but the undersides of the leps you see.... no other ones on that side. I tried to attach their bodies to the stick/ log for the best appearance for the side you see and I have it positioned so that the best side is visible.
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Post by joniverson on Sept 21, 2017 10:30:13 GMT
My first ever lep dome. I was surprised how nicely it came out, but there was a later issue that was of concern. Inside the dome, I placed some silica gel and a few moth flakes. A few days after sealing the base, I could smell the flakes! So, I ended up having to apply a couple shellac coatings to the base and problem solved.
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Post by joniverson on Sept 6, 2017 11:22:56 GMT
Thanks, Adam. I've actually been looking online for a couple of weeks for one at a decent price, but can't find any. As for the repair, I'd still appreciate any info because the way the butterfly will be situated will make the underside not visible.
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Post by joniverson on Sept 5, 2017 21:16:14 GMT
One of the insect domes I am creating is going to contain butterflies. This is going to be given as a gift to a relative. Since I started this project late, some of the key butterflies I was looking for in my area are either past their time for the season, or nearly so. One of the butterflies I am going to place in the dome is the tiger swallowtail. Problem is, besides being hard to find this time of the year, the ones I did collect were all damaged in some way. However, I am thinking of cutting out the good section from one of them and gluing that section into the missing section of another. If done correctly, I could possibly end up with the equivalent of a non-damaged one for the dome. I have several questions:
1) If I try and repair these, is it better to do it now, while they are fresh, or wait until thoroughly dried after being on the mounting board for a couple of weeks?
2) What glue should I use?
Thanks!
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Post by joniverson on Sept 3, 2017 17:57:35 GMT
Another one of these hornets today. That makes the third found in my butterfly traps, but not the special soda bottle traps made for them. I have a notion to take the soda bottles down. Only difference in the mixture is that the butterfly traps are a lot more enriched with overripe banana, whereas the hornet trap bait is not. Interesting. Now they are attracting plenty of white faced hornets (both types of traps are in fact), but only the butterfly trap gets the European.
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Post by joniverson on Sept 1, 2017 9:24:57 GMT
Do you have a penchant for Hymenoptera? You must be from the U.S. if you saw a Cicada killer in your area. Very few if any members have ever indicated much interest in bees, wasps, or their kin. As for me, I have always had a passing interest in the large or colorful Hymenoptera. Occasionally, I will take a specimen or two here and there while out in the field. I also have a small collection (30 examples) of paper wasp nests which I have collected up over the years. They are all in great shape as I keep a sharp eye out for them just as the leaves are beginning to fall. This way, they are intact and un-damaged by November's blustery winds. I have a locale not far from my home where I could regularly collect cicada killers every year in July thru mid August --- in numbers. The females are quite large and bold creatures but, on occasion a large male can fool you into thinking you just saw a female. V. crabro is most often encountered in late July through August as their colonies are relatively small (always) as compared to other paper wasps. Queens, can be found sometimes in May when they have emerged from their long winters hibernation and are out scouting for new nest sites. I sort of like the unusual ones, or ones I rarely see. I first spotted the hornet years ago feeding on some some sort of food along a forest's edge. I was just a kid at the time and thought it might have been a different type of cicada killer, since the hornet seemed to be about the same size. It was definitely larger, although not by much, than the image above so it may have been the female. Since I posted, I found another Euro hornet, along with some bald faced hornets, in my butterfly baiter. I just started using one of the baiters and have been having a lot of success with it. I read that these hornets are nocturnal, but I have yet to find any in the special traps I have for them. With the sugar water/ banana bait I use, other than bald faced hornets and butterflies, I get a lot of horse flies. I was really surprised by this and some of the flies are probably a cm long.
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Post by joniverson on Aug 28, 2017 14:50:49 GMT
After having two traps up for over a month, I had this visitor to one trap this morning. I noticed one buzzing around yesterday, but it didn't enter the trap. Also, there has been a large, female cicada killer frequenting the area within the last 48 hours and I noticed where one goes, the other shows up sometimes. Anyway, happy with this find, haven't seen many in the wild this season.
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Post by joniverson on Aug 28, 2017 1:14:33 GMT
No. I have almost the same set up currently with silica gel and half a dozen or so moth balls. Been this way for a couple of weeks with no damage. One thing you might want to pick up is a small, cheap humidity meter like used to monitor reptile aquariums, around $6-9 at a pet shop. That way you can tell if the gel is doing its job. Outside of my container, for example humidity ranges in the 80's, but inside 0-10% which tells me my silica is working fine. One alternative to silica gel is kitty litter based silica, a lot cheaper and it too can be "recharged" in the oven with the only issue being no indicator beads but if you use a humidity meter that will take the place of it. Good luck.
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