Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Storing flies in alcohol

Posted by Adrian on 10-01-2008 15:57
#53

Just a question to Adrian: could you please estimate an average consumption of the Absolute per 100 4-5 mm Fannia/Tephritis-sized flies to dry them before EthAc?

I reckon a 100:1 ratio of alcohol to fly (by volume). This will strip most of the water out but the remaining 1% approx will be 'boundary' water stuck to proteins etc by van der Walls interaction and you can't get rid of this no matter how much alcohol you use or how long you leave it to equillibrate. (a 1% water content is probably dryer than if the fly was conventionally pinned from fresh when one might expect 3-5% perhaps?) In practice, once a specimen has equillibrated at the 100:1 ratio you should replace with fresh alcohol and you could then get away with a lower ratio for longer storage.
Similarly, a 100:1 ratio of Et-Ac/fly would remove c99% of the free alcohol from the specimen which is enough for it to dry well
Can't really help with the revolving on the pin situation as I normally card point flies dried from alcohol. My guess is that the alcohol and EtAc dissolve out the fats which would normally help bind the specimen on the pin if pinned from fresh. I suppose glue is the solution.
Hope this helps
Adrian