dead mantis

[angelofdeathzz]

What are some good ways to preserve a dead mantis, color and all???

 

[Rick]

I simply pin them to a styrofoam board with pins in the position I want. Keep it out of the light and in a cool place for a few weeks. I get minimum color loss.

 

[Ntsees]

My entomology professor once said that nail polish remover (or something having to do with nail polish) would help preserve the color. For me, I try to dry the mantid up as quickly as possible - that is, I put it out in the direct sunlight. If I don't do that, my dead green/yellow mantids tend to become brown.

 

[macawlover2]

Rick- what kind of mantis is that? It's gorgeous!

 

[angelofdeathzz]

It's a adult male Idolomantis Diabolica, very rare and one of the hardest species to keep, and get to adult.

 

[animalexplorer]

I was curious about preserving in resin mold, would the colors keep better over time? I've seen a couple of examples in the forum and they look pretty good. The first link is from forum member Fisherman_Brazil, second link by BrontoT.

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=13622&st=0&p=89192&hl=resin&fromsearch=1entry89192

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=20802&st=0&p=154946&hl=resin&fromsearch=1entry154946

Rick did a really nice job on the pinning, but since I don't have any knowledge on the subject I am curious if they are pinned backwards and left to dry and eventually are they flipped over to see the front, or is this just a preference?

 

[Morbo]

On the subject of drying, would it affect the dead mantid's colors if I were to put it under a 60 watt red heat bulb (or inside a box that's positioned under the bulb)? If so, for how long? I'm thinking I should dry them out before they start to decompose.