[Syrphidae] freeze desinfection of insect drawers

[christian thompson]

Frank:

Our standard policy at the Smithsonian (USNM) is now to freeze ALL =
incoming material. No damaged to pinned material.

I am not sure what the exact temperature is but it is in your range. We =
came the material in the freezer just for a couple of days.

As for water vapour, this usually isn't a problem as things are dry in the =
north. But if there is water vapour it usually forms on the glass FIRST =
and can be easy cleaned off.

Cheers



F. Christian Thompson
Systematic Entomology Lab., USDA
c/o Smithsonian Institution
MRC-0169 NHB
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
(202) 382-1800 voice
(202) 786-9422 FAX
cthompso at sel.barc.usda.gov e-mail
www.diptera.org  web site

>>> frank.dziock at tu-berlin.de 10/17/06 07:49AM >>>
Hello Syrphid friends!

Can anybody provide me with information how to desinfect the drawers in
my syrphid collection with a standard freezer (-18 degrees C)? There are
no visible signs of pests yet, but I would like to be as safe as possible.

I am also unsure about the details:

How long do the drawers have to be in the freezer?
Does freezing damage the syrphid specimens?
How about condensed water after taking the insect drawers out of the
freezer?

Maybe there are already some web resources on this? I would greatly
appreciate any links or hints on literature on this topic.

Many thanks in advance!

Best wishes from Berlin,

Frank Dziock


--=20

Prof. Dr. Frank Dziock
Fachgebiet Biodiversit*tsdynamik
der TU Berlin
Sekr. AB 1
Rothenburgstr. 12
D - 12165 Berlin
Germany

Tel: 030 =96 314 71368
Fax: 030 =96 314 71355

http://www.tu-berlin.de/fb7/ioeb/biodiversitaet/=20

"God in his wisdom made the fly, and then forgot to tell us why." Ogden =
Nash

special issue on =93Bioindication and Functional Response in Floodplain =
Systems=94 out now!
published in International Review of Hydrobiology=20
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/60500251=20


_______________________________________________
Syrphidae mailing list
Syrphidae at lists.nottingham.ac.uk=20
http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/syrphidae