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Post by jonesy610 on Mar 3, 2016 22:36:50 GMT
wow a lot of typos in that... apologies... take out that first "you" and it should read eighty not "eight" degrees
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2016 23:02:00 GMT
I inject boiling hot water straight between the legs on the underside of the thorax until water spurts out, I then lay the specimen on a damp paper towel for 30 minutes before repeating the process as many time's as is necessary, not had any problems with this, I also hold the specimen with forceps on the thorax and gently work the wings open and shut to weaken those wing muscles, after an hour or so the specimens are almost as pliable as freshly killed ones.
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Post by jonesy610 on Mar 3, 2016 23:42:05 GMT
Sorry to dither on, but how are the antennae after this hour process... is there further action that you take with them or are they too ready to go after so short a time... again thank you all for your wealth of information, hopefully I will eventually get as beautiful of mounts as all of you.
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Post by wollastoni on Mar 4, 2016 8:33:32 GMT
how are the antennae after this hour process They are still dry. So you need to damp them in the boiling water to be able to settle them. Whan I injected specimens (I don't anymore), I used to inject the specimen, damp the antennae and put the specimen for one day in a classic relaxing box. Nowadays I don't inject anymore, too many badly relaxed specimens. I now use the classic method with a tupperware : - damp toilet paper with boiling water - dry toilet paper above - specimen above (I have damped antennaes and body of specimen in the boiling water before) I leave them one night in the closed tupperware On the morning they are ready.
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Post by timmsyrj on Mar 4, 2016 9:04:04 GMT
I have been introduced to the world of relaxing by injection by Clive Pratt and there is no going back for me now, it's so quick and easy even the largest and most brittle specimens are ready in an hour or so, I won't use this method on the smaller British species of course but what an eye opener. I used to do this all the time Dunc, however hot / boiling water dissolves the body fats which can run onto the wings under the scales by capillary action leaving stains, also with some Ornithoptera such as goliath it can and has dulled the green of the forewings as the steam rises between them, they don't dry out correctly again. Also the wing membrane doesn't relax and soften so the scent folds are impossible to set, with the wing membrane soft it's also possible to pull out any slight imperfections such as folds or creases, the only draw back using the relaxing box however is the ranched specimens becoming too floppy to set, injection would probably be the way for these as it only relaxes the muscles. Rich
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2016 10:06:33 GMT
Not had a problem yet Rich but then again I've not set any ornithoptera in years, but I recently did anaeomorpha splendida by injecting and they are as stiff as any prepona/agrias. In answer the the antenna Olivier is correct, they must be gently dipped into the water.
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Post by timmsyrj on Mar 8, 2016 20:03:05 GMT
Be careful still Dunc, it's not just Ornithoptera that I had problems with, have you noticed the water dripping out being brown? That's dissolved body fat, with colder water you can get water marks at the base of the wings which will dry out ok but with the dissolved fats they will leave a visible darker stain on any species. Also if any of the wing veins are cracked or broken they will drip water out if you inject too hard.
Rich
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Post by timmsyrj on Mar 8, 2016 20:14:39 GMT
Here's a short series of photo's of a Graphium agamemnon male I've just set, top photo shows the specimen prior to setting, the setting strips are placed under the scent folds, firstly I position the right forewing and bring the right hindwing up to where I want it and the setting strip should roll the scent fold out without damaging it (If it's fully relaxed) this specimen was so relaxed the wings stopped in place for the photo without pins being in place. Finally I move the left wings. i finish the scent folds as shown previously with 2/4 long pins to hold the scent fold fully open, in these photos you will see they are not fully open yet, if the groove in the boards was narrower the setting strip would be closer to the body and cover more of the scent folds. Hope this is useful to all. Rich
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