Alcohol as short term preservative?h

[cid143ti]

Hello, 

I noticed I had a couple of ghost mantids die over the weekend.  Unfortunately, I had not ordered my mounting kit and do not have all the necessary tools to pin and mount them.  Would it be possible to keep the two in rubbing alcohol until my kit arrives (mid next week) without negatively effecting the color?  The mantids have not desiccated yet.  

Thanks,

W. Smith

 

[Teamonger]

Disclaimer: I am a complete novice at pinning.

However I keep my mantises in the freezer until I'm ready to deal with them. I believe I recall reading somewhere that it preserves their color as well. Much easier to toss them in the freezer then alcohol in my opinion. They don't get rigid and can be posed easily after a bit of thaw time. I have never seen any color degradation on frozen specimens until I dry them out (likely incorrectly).

 

[Mystymantis]

As Teamonger said, the freezer is probably the best way to go. The nice thing about the freezer is that when you take the insects out they will still be movable and soft once they thaw. And as far as I can tell I haven't seen any color degradation when using the freezer.

Rubbing alcohol would also work, though I am not certain on how well they will retain their color. Though I don't think a short period of time would have too much affect.

 

[cid143ti]

Thanks for the information.  I tossed them in rubbing alcohol last night before I went to bed then pulled them out today.  I'm now storing them in my freezer.      Once my mounting kit is in I'll try pinning them.  Ghost have such a wide range of color and a display of the variety would be nice.