# My Guide for Relaxing/Spreading/Pinning Mantid Specimens



## joossa

Hey Rick, you wanted this. I hope it’s insightful…

This is my tutorial of how I relax, spread, dry, and keep preserved insect specimens, mainly mantids. My methods are amateur and all of my materials are household items. In other words, this can be seen as the poor man’s guide to spreading and pinning insects. Of course, one can simply go online and purchase professional entomology materials do this, but if you’re like me, you enjoy the use of household items and a little challenge. Also, keep in mind that there are many different methods of doing this. I am using the one way that I am most familiar with and the way I think is easiest, especially for the beginner.

There are three main components to the entire procedure: the relaxing jar, the spreading board, and the housing/display case. Two of them are required: the spreading board and the housing case, while the relaxing jar is optional.

I will start with the actual construction of the items and then move onto the actual procedures.

*Construction of the Housing Case-*

Supply list:

-a shoebox or similar box with lid

- foam pads or white foam packaging material

-glue

-scissors

First thing to do is to prepare the case that is going to house your dried specimens. First get a large shoebox. If you want it to house many specimens, you’ll have to get an extra large one. Buy foam pads or white foam packaging material. I find using foam pads easier as the white packaging material is hard to cut straight. Wal-Mart sells these foam pads called “Foamies” for about 33 cents each and they work really well. You will want a layer that is about .25in thick. So glue multiple foam pads together or cut down the packaging foam. Then cut the layer into dimensions that match the base of the shoebox. Finally glue the layer to the base of the shoebox. The foam base will provide a matrix that will hold the pin once you insert your specimen.

*Construction of the Drying Board-*

Supply list:

-corrugated cardboard

-paper towels

-scissors

-tape

Next, you have to make a drying board. This is where you will spread and dry the specimen. First get a flat piece of corrugated cardboard. Make sure it’s pretty big in order to accommodate those large specimens and their wingspans. If you have to, cut it into a nice rectangular shape. Next, take a good quality paper towel and tape it tightly on one side of the piece of cardboard. When I say tight, I mean do not let creases or bumps form on the towel; you want it to be as flat onto the cardboard as possible. That’ll be the drying board.

*Construction of the Relaxing Jar-*

Supply list:

-large pickle jar and its cap

-cotton balls

-bleach

-water

-corrugated cardboard

Construction of this item is optional. Sometimes if your specimen has been dead for a long time, you’ll have to “relax” it. Insects dry up, so if you go onto spearing a dry specimen you run the risk of snapping off brittle antennae, legs, wings, etc. So, it is always better to spread your specimen when it is freshly dead. If this is not possible, you can still soften up (relax) the specimen by using a relaxing jar. A relaxing jar is just like a humidity chamber. You place the specimen inside and it will soften up (relax) because of the high humidity after a given time.

There are tons of methods for relaxing jars used out there. Mine is just one of them. First, acquire a large, clean jar that has a lid (a pickle jar works well). Next, line the bottom of the jar with a layer of cotton balls. Then cut a flat piece if cardboard big enough to hold your specimen. Get a small container and fill it with some water. The amount of water needed will depend on how big/small your jar is. Add bleach to the water. You’ll want to make a ~25% solution, so eyeball the 25% of the water’s mass and add that amount of bleach to the solution. The chlorine will prevent bacterial/fungal growth on your specimen once it’s in the jar. I usually use bleach when I have large specimens that are likely to turn black and rot. You add the solution into the jar. You will want the level of the solution to stop at around half the height of the cotton layer. Finally, place your specimen on the piece of cardboard and place the whole thing in the middle of the jar on top of the cotton layer. Make sure the cardboard piece is smaller than the cotton layer base. Close the jar tightly with its lid. Remember, you do not want the liquid to come in direct contact with the specimen. Place the jar in a dark cool area.

The wait time will vary depending on how big and bulky your specimen is. I remember that it took a female Orchid Mantid five days to relax. Periodically check to see if there is mold or fungal growth. Once the specimen has been relaxed take it out and you may spread it. Oh, and it will smell bad!

*Procedure for spreading/drying the specimen-*

Supply list:

-specimen

-drying board

-pins

-paper towels

-paper

-scissors

-dissecting probe/tweezers

Now on to the spreading and drying! Remember it is best if you specimen is fresh. Hold your specimen and pin it. Now where to insert the pin? If it’s a mantid or grasshopper or similar insect, you’ll want to insert at the top of the abdomen at the middle without piercing the wings. For beetles and true bugs insert the pin through the thorax. You’ll want to make sure the insect is perpendicular to the pin so that it doesn’t look slanted. Insert the pin and leave about .25in to .5in of pin length at the top of the insect, just enough so you can grab the pin at the top.

After inserting the pin into the specimen, take the drying board and place it at the edge of a desk so that a good portion of the board is hanging off the edge. Now take the pinned specimen and insert the tip of the pin into the board (the portion that is hanging off the desk). Push the pin into the paper towel and then through the cardboard until the bottom side (ventral side) of the insect is touching the paper towel on the drying board. Again, insert the pinned specimen so that it is perpendicular to the drying board. Now the specimen is set.

At this point, you’ll want to cut up several strips of paper. Make strips that have different length and different widths. Depending on the size of your specimen, the sizes of the strips will vary. Have lots of them ready. Some will have to cover the length of the wings and some the length of the legs. The job of these strips of paper is going to be to hold parts of the specimen in place. Sometime using clear, flexible plastic strips helps too.

I find it easier to start spreading the legs of the specimen. I always start width the left side. Use your tweezers or dissecting probe to manipulate the top left leg into position (if this is a mantid you’ll want to do the mid leg and not the front leg). You will want to pull the leg out and use the specimen’s natural joints to create a natural position. If the leg is caught too tightly between the specimen’s body and the board, just pull the pinned specimen up a tad bit by pulling the pin oout just a little bit and work form there. Once the leg is spread out usually the hook(s) at the end of the specimen’s tarsus will “hook” onto the towel’s surface, and the leg will stay put. If it doesn’t stay in position just lightly stoke the end of the leg downwards onto the paper towel and it should “hook on”. Repeat this step with the lower legs and the legs on the right side.

If you are working with a mantid, spreading the front legs is a little trickier. Please see this diagram to see the names of the parts of the leg I am referring to: Leg of a Mantis. Use your probe or tweezers (I find the probe more useful here) and insert it in the “claw” area of the mantid (between the femur and the tibia). Then pull the top portion of the claw up and away from the thorax. If you let your tool slip off, the leg will usually retract and you’ll have to start over, so be careful. Pull it into your desired position. I like to make a 90 degree angel between the mantid’s body and the coxa, another between the coxa and the femur, and another between the femur and the tibia. Other people just like to raise the front legs up as much as they can making no particular angels. Put the front leg into position and grab a strip of paper that is a little longer than the length of the leg. Gently (without moving the leg) place the strip on top of the leg so that it covers most of it up. Now grab a pin and insert it into the space next to the leg so that it anchors the paper down. You don’t have to completely insert the pin through the board, just insert it enough into the carbureted cardboard so the pin will stay in place. Use multiple pins around the perimeter of the arm and anchor the strip of paper down so that the arm will stay in your desired position. Note that when you are making your transition from your tool to the paper you may have to rely on using a finger… or two. Remember be gentle and have patience this part is the toughest. Repeat.

Now you have the legs of the specimen in position. Now you have to ask yourself “Do I want to spread both sets of wings, one set of wings, or no set of wings?” If you do not want to spread any sets of wings, use another strip of paper and anchor down the legs of the specimen (on both right and left sides) and move on past the remainder of this paragraph and the next (if you are working with a mantis, anchor down the bottom two legs as you already have already anchored down the front pair). If you do want to spread either one or two sets of wings continue one here. First, grab some paper towels. Measure the length of the wings of your specimen. You will want to cut a long strip of paper towel that has a width that is a bit longer than the length of the wings. Make sure the strip is as long as possible. Now, fold the strip over and over, giving it the length about the same as the length of the abdomen of the specimen. This folding will create a cushion. You want to make a cushion like rectangle with the folds. In the end you will want this cushion to run the length of the abdomen, to have a width longer than the wing length, and a height that is about the thickness of the specimen. This is difficult to say with words, so I hope I didn’t lose you there. You will want two of these cushions (one for the left side and one for the right side). Obviously, if you want to spread only one set of wings, you only need one cushion. See my drawing below to see what a cushion looks like.

Place the paper towel cushion right next to the specimen’s side. Again, I always do the left side first and assume in the following directions, that you will too. Be careful not to disturb the two lower legs, as they are not anchored. Place the cushion on top of the lower legs right next to the specimen. Do not leave any room between the specimen and the cushion. Now use your tool to move the left forewing out (I find that doing this part with beetles is very hard to do!). You will want to make it perpendicular to the specimen’s body. If you calculated the thickness of your specimen correctly the wing should lay right on top of the paper towel cushion. If it does not immediately lie on it, then you did not make the cushion thick enough and the wings will end up slanted downwards. Hold the forewing on the cushion with a finger and then pull out the left hindwing. Again the hindwing should also rest on the cushion. Hold both the left forewing and the left hindwing on the cushion and grab another one of those nifty paper strips. Make sure that it’s a long one. Place it gently on the wings, remove your finger(s) and then hold down the strip. Grab a pin and insert it through the paper and into the cardboard to anchor down the wings. Sometimes, the pin will have to go through the cushion too. You will want to get a tight fit so the wings are locked in position. Again use multiple pins and do not pierce the wings, insert around the perimeter of the wings. Also try to eyeball it so that you do not pierce the legs below either. It’s a longshot as the legs are most likely directly beneath the wings, but still be careful. Repeat with the opposite side if you want both sets of wings spread.

Alright, so now we have the legs down and the wings down next is the basic touch-ups. Sometimes the abdomen of the specimen is a bit to the right or a bit to the left. To center it simply use a pin right next to the abdomen so that it pushes and keeps it in place. Just insert the pin into the board once you get the abdomen in place. Also antennae some times end up a bit slanted. Again use a pin to move the antenna into place and insert the pin right next to it so that it holds it in place. The head of the specimen can also be positioned.

Here is Yen's picture that inspired my techniques:







And here is my sketch of what my drying board looks like:






Here is an example using a katydid:











The next step is the drying process. This is easy. Place the entire drying board with the set insect somewhere dry and dark. Choose your location carefully as you will have at least one pin (the specimen’s pin) going through the bottom of the drying board. I put mine between boxes in my closet. You should give the specimen ample time to dry. The more the better, trust me!!! For a typical mantis, I give it at least 2 weeks to dry. For small insects sometimes five days will suffice. Again, the more the merrier. If you don’t give it sufficient time, then the insect will “sag” once you move it into your housing case.

*Procedure for moving the specimen into the housing case-*

Supply list:

-drying board set-up

-tweezers

-housing case

-label (optional)

-glue (optional)

-silica gel packs (optional)

Alright, lets get the label out of the way. Professional entomologists have a strict method when it comes to labels. Since we are all amateurs here, we can make up our own format or even forget the label all together. I like to make labels for my specimens, but when you have many types of specimens, identifications are sometimes not possible and so part of the label will be missing. I print my labels on MS World in size 8 front using Times New Roman as the font. Here is what I include in my labels (a comma indicates a new line): scientific name, brief description of specimen (ie: “adult male”), date the insect was pinned in the Day-Month-Year format, location of collection- City, state (if location is not available, then I will enter who I got it from). Once the label is printed and cut out, I use glue to glue it down under the specimen on the foam base of the housing case. Again, professional entomologists do it differently.

Now let’s move onto the final step. Set your drying board on your desk/table. The specimen should be fully dry and ready to go. Using either your fingers or tweezers, begin pulling out the pins that were used to anchor down the strips of paper. Go slowly and be very careful; this part can get tricky. You may want to hold down the strip of paper before pulling out one of its pins so that the paper does not come up with the pin. Remove the strips and in the end, remove the paper towel cushions very carefully and slowly from under the wings. Since the specimen is fully dry, the limbs and wings wont revert back to their original positions anymore. This is the time for the “ohhs and ahhs”. Your work finally paid off.

Now there is one final pin in the board, the pin that is holding your specimen. Once everything is taken off, slowly pull the specimen’s pin up. The specimen should obviously come up with it. Now take the dry, pinned specimen and find a place in your housing case that you’d like to place it. Gently insert the pin’s tip into the foam base and push until it is firmly anchored in. Again, make sure the pin is perpendicular to the foam base for best results. You can add your label if you want now. Also you may want to throw in a couple of silica gel packs (like the ones you find in shoe boxes). These act like a desiccant and will help keep the case dry. And there you go!

As long as you keep your specimens dry, cool and out of direct sunlight, they will last a very long time for you to enjoy!  

*Possible Problems-*

During my many attempts of pinning and spreading insects, I have come across a handful of problems. First is color loss. Sometimes the specimen will loose color during the drying phase. It sometimes happens and really cannot be helped. Sometimes the specimen will darken up a bit too. Again it is a matter of luck. If you prevent direct sunlight from coming in contact with your specimen, color loss may be prevented. If you provide dry conditions, the darkening also may be prevented. Also, sometimes a specimen will completely rot and turn black. This happens rarely and will less likely happen if you provide dry conditions.

I have read that sometimes a certain kind of beetle will invade housing cases with specimens and eat them. This has never happened to be as I keep my cases closed at all times and keep them high in my closet.

The most common problem I have had is accidentally snapping off a part of the specimen while spreading it. It happens; especially in the beginner stage! Remember, experience counts here, so don’t let this put you down. If it happens, learn form your mistake, and you’ll do better next time!  

Here are additional sources for further reading and pictures:

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=12062

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3374&amp;hl=mounting

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/youthdevelopment/DA6892.html

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/pinning2.html

http://butterflywebsite.com/articles/msstate/is655.htm

http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/skills/seton/preserve_insects.htm

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/site_main.htm?docid=10141&amp;page=1

http://hometown.aol.com/xerantheum/insects.html

I’d like to thank YenSaw for providing that good ole’ picture that inspired me to begin pinning insects some time ago. Also my thanks go to Mike (Hypoponera) for discussing aspects and techniques relating to this with me some time ago. I’d also like to thank Rick for requesting this guide. And of course I’d like to thank you for reading!

Thanks!

-Joel


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## idolomantis

Oh my god  Thank you so very much, Joel!

Rick, you really need to make a sticky of this


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## The_Asa

Very nice, joossa! +1 for the stickie! Incredibly helpful!


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## Rick

Very nice writeup. I pinned it so it will always be at the top. I think I will give this a go. No reason all these mantids that get old and die cannot be dried and kept around to enjoy.


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## Hypoponera

Outstanding write-up Joel!

I have only two things to add.

1) Dermestid beetles will eat up dried insect collections. They have managed to get into a couple of my sealed wood/glass display cases. After loosing nearly all of my giant moth collection, I was told to place moth balls into the case to gas the beetles and larvae. So all my cases have that odd mothball smell now! But I have not had any more trouble with dermestids.

2) If you are like me and lack patience, you can speed up the relaxing of dried specimens. I lay a large mouthed canning jar on its side and fill half the volume with paper towels. Wet the paper towels to nearly soaked. Place your speciemen on a flat piece of metal. I use a piece of sheet brass from the local hard ware store. Folded and pressed aluminum foil should also work. The sheet needs to be small enough to fit into the jar mouth, but large enough to hold the bug. Seal the jar with the lid. Lay the jar in the oven with the paper towel side down, sheet and bug laying on top of the towels. Turn the oven on to its lowest setting. Mine goes down to 170F. Check in an hour. If you do not see water drops forming on the inside, upper surface of the jar, then your lid isn't sealing well. If sealed, most large mantid speciemens should be ready to remove in two hours or less.


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## a1_collection

Excellent tutorial. I'll be sure to use it.

Thanks


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## joossa

I finally took some pictures of my collections. All of these were done using my methods and procedures mentioned above....

Native insects collection:






Iris oratoria collection:






Close ups:











Pinned dorsally:






Pinned ventrally:






Ooths and an L1 nymph held down with glossy tape:


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## Katnapper

Beautifully written and comprehensive instructions.  This has inspired me to maybe try it out on mine when they go. Thank you!


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## shorty

Very well written guide. It works great thank you so much!


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## Tomato

I wonder if you could keep dermestids out of your mounted bugs by chemically treating them with something, maybe something greasy like hexane or glycerol that'll really get in there and stay.

-Tomato


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## dgerndt

Thanks so much! I want to preserve my first mantis and now I can!


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## GreenOasis

Just a question: I think I had heard somewhere about using hairspray on your dried specimen (after the process of spreading, of course!) to make them more durable and less prone to breakage/color loss. Anyone heard of/tried this? What about a clear-coat spray paint?

Maybe if I get enough dead bugs to try this out, I will do some experimentation. Thanks for the inspiration!


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## ninjaboy1988

This is awesome. No sense in wasting mantids by letting them die. I want to have a large insect collection someday. I could do it for 4H...

~Rogue Forest Ninja~ :shuriken:


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## ninjaboy1988

joossa said

"The next step is the drying process. This is easy. Place the entire drying board with the set insect somewhere dry and dark. Choose your location carefully as you will have at least one pin (the specimen’s pin) going through the bottom of the drying board. I put mine between boxes in my closet. You should give the specimen ample time to dry. The more the better, trust me!!! For a typical mantis, I give it at least 2 weeks to dry. For small insects sometimes five days will suffice. Again, the more the merrier. If you don’t give it sufficient time, then the insect will “sag” once you move it into your housing case."

Do other insects ever eat or destroy the specimen that is drying?


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## SHEAFMom

Wow! Thanks Joel for spending so much time on this for us. I am excited to give this a try later (hopefully much later) this summer .


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## naeff002

that looks really good. They mantis are beautiful placed


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## joossa

I made some videos of a specimen I spread today:

Part 1:


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## joossa

Part 2:


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## joossa

Part 3:

Enjoy!


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## Joe2137

Is it possible to keep my dead mantis in a certain position that I want it to be in?


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## cuervo

Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge great write up.

Do you know how to keep the color on specimens like  _Heteropteryx dilatata_ ?


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## Maeraxya

Thank you for this! It is very clear and detailed perfectly. I will definitely try this method to preserve my future claw children.


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## Grapple_Apple

Ha! It's good to see a post my brother made was so valuable to all of you! I remember the insect collections I made myself, I ended up passing them onto my AP Bio teacher in HS. Hopefully I can also add something as valuable to the forum myself!


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