#insect preservation

[popcornhee]

My favourite specimen of my collection. I really adore praying mantises!

[zc-t]

Harvest of the day

[super-autism-death-ray]

it honestly really bothers me when people treat insect collectors like they're cruel and creepy. I do it because I love insects. I only pin ones that are dead to begin with, I think they're beautiful and they fascinate me. I like to learn about them, each of my bugs have their own special place in my heart. its more than a hobby, they are all very important to me and It absolutely makes me sad to see them dead, but death is a fact of life. im not a bad person for this, it's no different than someone getting their dog stuffed after their passing. bugs are very dear to me. so I guess I'm just saying that it really bothers me how people treat us like crazy weirdos who find joy in stabbing innocent bugs or whatever. with all due respect, fuck off.

[twinrot-arts]

Artsy Collage -- Do Not Reupload/Use/Remove Caption. Art © twinrot

7-25 - Original - Fan Art. Twins didn't forget they wanted to do this.... ovo;;; -- Yarn tails for cosplay/keychains, needle and thread to keep pieces of skulls/teeth with their origins, moss and braided cord decor, cross-stitch practice, paper embroidery, plush and pet toy sewings, painting on thrifty finds, origami, preserving insects/plants, gardening/propagating... Just wanted to share some of the other artsy shit we've been up to that's not just drawing, ehe~ Only We May Use, Do Not Steal. Like this? Consider following ~ Support Us On Ko-fi~

[cherrytheorchidmantis]

i began preserving my dead orchid mantis cherry today, here are the notes i took:

1. thaw cherry for 10 minutes

2. pin her

3. put droplets of rubbing alcohol on her

4. let her dry

1. ive put cherry in a handmade sauna to thaw her, it consists of a very small amount of isopropyl alcohol and a splash of boiling hot water, just enough to soak up one square of kitchen paper, she is sitting on top of a small square of styrofoam so she doesn’t touch any wet surfaces, im leaving her in it for 10 minutes to guarantee shes fully thawed, im hoping the ethanol will help prevent her from rotting later on

2. ive laid her down on a larger piece of syrofoam and began pinning, it’s difficult.

emotionally its really difficult, i hate seeing her like this. i refuse to put any pins into her body. i tried, i couldnt bring myself to, i know shes gone but i cant bring myself to hurt her. i wont be stuffing her into that little vial, my baby deserves so much better

3. i pinned cherry into a position where she nearly looks alive, i put little drops of the ethanol on her to prevent rotting, shes darkened just a little but i think (i hope) its because shes wet, it really wouldn’t be noticeable if you didn’t know her,

its weird, her eyes are dark, of course they are but its so weird. no pupils. before she died i could still see her looking at me.

it felt so wrong to pin her, i did it differently to how people tend to, i refuse to have my baby stay permanently in such a scared position, i think she looks like shes standing, her head is slightly tilted up and to the side. her head was so delicate to move, i was worried id decapitate her somehow.

4. i have to leave her a week now, to dry fully, i wasnt sure where would be best to put her but i found a dry dark place, i’ll check on her occasionally to make sure nothings changed.

she wont fit in the vial i bought for her, so i decided to put all 3 of her molts in there instead, i filled it with the isopropyl alcohol and it looks beautiful

now i can at least have a part my little love by my side always

photos under the cut incase anyone doesn’t want to see them

cherry in her makeshift ‘sauna’

cherry on the styrofoam

cherry pinned in place

a video of cherry gently posed and pinned

another photo of the vial

i hope this was helpful to someone ♡︎

[popcorn428]

building a collection!! I found both of these dead (I dint believe in killing for art) I think they came out pretty cool though, if anyone has any tips on preserving insects I’d love to hear them!!

[gregorsamsaisliterallyme]

im not sure how many of you can relate to this but the reson i enjoy taxidermy, insects, pathology, psychology, and the more "grim" and misunderstood subjects is because i, myself, feel misunderstood.

i think that's that same for a lot of people as well, we want to understand what others dont. we feel rejected by others so we want to be accepting of things that are strange to most.

i thought about this because any time i talk about anything to do with the dead, or insects, or psychology i always get strange reactions. and it made me think about why i like these things in general.

i want to understand the misunderstood.

it's always been so confusing to me why people dont get that.

but what do i know, its 11pm for me when im typing and posting this LMAOO

[arctic-hands]

Can anyone tell me how to best preserve spotted lanternfly wings? My only supplies are a small jar with a lid I'm gonna use to preserve the wings on, Mod Podge Dimensional Magic because I can't tolerate resin fumes and don't have any anyway, rubbing alcohol, vinyl gloves, plastic tweezers that have textured tips, and an intact dead lanternfly that randomly died on my window.

I've never preserved a bug or removed the wings off of one (I just want the wings), so I have no idea what I'm doing. Searching the net just gave me instructions on how to pin them, mummify them, or soak the bugs in alcohol, but none of them were about lanternflies specifically and I know their wings are fairly delicate.

(Also I really fucking hate bugs even dead ones so any advice on how to not scream or puke as I handle it or remove the wings will be greatly appreciated.)