dirty ethel rackham Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Ds17 is doing an entomology project for 4H and he has to collect and display 60 specimens. I am overwhelmed by all the equipment and supplies. I do know that he has to pin mount his specimens if applicable or store in alcohol (caterpillars, etc.) Can anyone who does this give me some advice on what to buy and where is the cheapest place to get this? I'd like to keep it under $50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Oh my goodness, I remember my mom buying only the pins for me. I made everything else. I'm feeling old. What supplies are you looking at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 My husband buys from bioquip.com. Your son will need pins of different sizes, vials for the alcohol specimins, forceps, spreading board, and a pinning block. Husband thought the $36 special Student Insect Collecting and Mounting Kit looked good. I hope this helps.....if you have more questions I can ask him for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 The set I mentioned does not seem to have a display case....only a collection case. You may want to price those out. Also it only has one size of pin but depending on the variety of bugs you have the one size might work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Well, he needs to have 60 specimens in 12 orders and they have to be labeled. I have the student kit in my cart, but it didn't have much for display. Perhaps the kit, a couple more display cases (or can he make some) and some vials? We have some fuel alcohol that we can dilute for storing soft body specimens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 No idea what to buy but I took an entemology class in college. it was my most memorable class every for lots of various reasons. The first isn't the best, but my attitude was I'm sitting in the back and pulling a C that is all I needed. I walked into a class with 7 people in it. EEEEK no sitting in the back of the room. it was all front and center. It was a tough class, but the 6 of us yeah the 7th dropped out, finished out majorly supporting each other in the class. ANd even the prof was funny at times as he freaked out about our mental health in the class. He has been the only prof I went back to see. And I did just see him about 6 years ago. It ws a nice chat with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 No advice about where/what to buy for supplies. I just wanted to recommend the novel "The Girl of the Limberlost" by Stratton-Porter. It has lots of information about entomology and preparing specimens within the novel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Well, he needs to have 60 specimens in 12 orders and they have to be labeled. I have the student kit in my cart, but it didn't have much for display. Perhaps the kit, a couple more display cases (or can he make some) and some vials? We have some fuel alcohol that we can dilute for storing soft body specimens. Fuel alcohol works if it is clear, some are not. Isopropyl (rubbing alcohol)is better but dilute to 70%. Too much and it dehydrates....too little and it won't be preserved. Methanol and ethanol will work as well. Display cases ...they are hard to make. 60 specimins would take 8 by 12 or 12 by 16. Bioquip sells 1042 series display cases for under $25. If he has some big butterflies or dragonflies he would need a big one. The kit does come with labeling stuff for 100 specimins. Hopefully this is helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) I'll help. For 60 specimens you will need two or three display cases. These can be homemade and are fairly inexpensive. Here is a link to the IL 4H page for display boxes. These are the ones that DS and DH build for our collection (we are up to 6 cases). The glass can be purchased from a Hobby Lobby or a local glass store. The glass usually costs about $5. Pins can be purchased from Bioquip for about $5. Labels can be downloaded from this page (got to the bottom, the link is Insect Identification labels) A collecting net can be homemade using cheese cloth, a wire hanger and an old broom handle. Putting the specimens in the freezer for a few days reduces the need for chemicals. Collection jars can be old mayo containers with holes in the lids. Make sure they are dry so the wings of moths and butterflies don't stick to the sides. If you can get, don't go for soft bodied specimens. DS has over 130 insects in his collection and has managed to avoid all but one soft bodied insect. Edited June 7, 2011 by The Dragon Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) The case with the beetles is the larger size. The case with the luna and cicadas is slightly smaller. These are two of the 6 cases he has at the moment. This picture is from last year's project. DS held a butterfly and insect class for local homeschoolers. It took 4 weeks because he had ordered caterpillars and they watched them grow, form chrysallids and hatch. He concluded with a big release party. He won Grand Champion at the local fair and a Superior (top award) at State. The little white boxes in the corners contain moth balls. Remember to put moth balls in your cases. They can easily be held in place with 4 pins bent inward to form a cage. Edited June 7, 2011 by The Dragon Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MangoMama Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 The Dragon Academy ~ Those are beautiful cases and beautiful collections! Your son obviously loves what he does! My son is interested in insects, but doesn't like collecting them... yet. I think someday he will be. Especially if I started a collection 'for' him -- I'm sure he'd be more inclined to continue. :D Thank you for posting that photo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 The Dragon Academy ~ Those are beautiful cases and beautiful collections! Your son obviously loves what he does! My son is interested in insects, but doesn't like collecting them... yet. I think someday he will be. Especially if I started a collection 'for' him -- I'm sure he'd be more inclined to continue. :D Thank you for posting that photo! Thank you very much for your kind words. DS does love entomology. He really enjoyed getting to share his passion with the younger kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 The case with the beetles is the larger size. The case with the luna and cicadas is slightly smaller. These are two of the 6 cases he has at the moment.This picture is from last year's project. DS held a butterfly and insect class for local homeschoolers. Your son"s boxes look like they would make a wonderful 4H woodworking project. Thanks for the link and pictures. My son is wanting to do a woodworking project but we needed a simple project to start off with. I will look closer at this next fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Your son"s boxes look like they would make a wonderful 4H woodworking project. Thanks for the link and pictures. My son is wanting to do a woodworking project but we needed a simple project to start off with. I will look closer at this next fall. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Thanks so much. This is very helpful. One question ... how do you mount the glass on your cases? The instructions weren't very clear on that. Your son's project looks outstanding. How old is he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Thanks so much. This is very helpful. One question ... how do you mount the glass on your cases? The instructions weren't very clear on that. Your son's project looks outstanding. How old is he? DS is 14. He was 12 when he began building the cases. Dh built the first couple when DS was younger. DS has been studying entomology for about 6 years. The wooden sides are scored with a router before they are nailed together. Three sides and the back are attached before the glass is put into place (it slides in). You want the glass to be removable so you can add or rearrange specimens as needed. The fourth side of the case is secured with screws that can be easily removed. If you look at the luna/cicada case you can see the glass isn't quite fitting into the slot. I think DS had opened it to take out a specimen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 DS is 14. He was 12 when he began building the cases. Dh built the first couple when DS was younger. DS has been studying entomology for about 6 years. The wooden sides are scored with a router before they are nailed together. Three sides and the back are attached before the glass is put into place (it slides in). You want the glass to be removable so you can add or rearrange specimens as needed. The fourth side of the case is secured with screws that can be easily removed. If you look at the luna/cicada case you can see the glass isn't quite fitting into the slot. I think DS had opened it to take out a specimen. Yikes. So now I need to find someone who has a router. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) Yikes. So now I need to find someone who has a router. Now, now...don't panic. It's not that difficult anyone with a router an do it in about 5 mins. How long until he needs the cases? Is he planning on keeping the collection for awhile? If not, he might be better off with one of the temporary cases. Edited June 7, 2011 by The Dragon Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 http://www.hometrainingtools.com/insect-collecting-supplies/c/140/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Well, county fair is in 6 weeks. I don't know how long he will keep them (or where we will store them:).) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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