[Syrphidae] FW: Re: relaxing flies

[Francis Gilbert]

not sure whether this one got through the bounce processing or not.
Resending it just in case.

Professor Francis Gilbert
Division of Cells, Organisms & Genetics, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham
B132 Life Sciences Building, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD
Tel: 0115 951 3215
website: www.nottingham.ac.uk/~plzfg

From: syrphidae-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk <syrphidae-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> On Behalf Of dave.clements1 at ntlworld.com
Sent: 05 October 2022 10:51
To: lasiopa at bknet.dk; bwakkie at syrphidae.com; syrphidae at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
Subject: [Syrphidae] Re: relaxing flies

Hi All

It’s probably already been mentioned elsewhere, but I’ve had very good and largely mould-free results using white spirit vinegar as a relaxing agent in a well-sealed Tupperware type container.  No water added.  I put the flies on a piece of plastozote on top of a tissue wetted (but not soaked) with WSV and the material is usually pliable enough to be worked with in a day or two.  I put the box somewhere out of the sun so that I don’t get condensation forming on the specimens, and if I do see any water-globules forming on them I carefully dab these off with a tiny strip of toilet paper.

Regards,
David


From: syrphidae-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk <syrphidae-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> On Behalf Of lasiopa at bknet.dk
Sent: 05 October 2022 09:19
To:
Subject: [Syrphidae] Re: relaxing flies

Hi all

To soften dry flies before pinning, I put them into a jar with a small strip of wet wipe. This method is fast and prevents mould.

Best wishes
Leif



________________________________
Fra: "Bastiaan Wakkie" <bwakkie at syrphidae.com<mailto:bwakkie at syrphidae.com>>
Sendt: 04/10/2022 12.57
Til: syrphidae at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:syrphidae at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>
Emne: [Syrphidae] Re: relaxing flies


Hi Sander,

I let the dried specie sit in a closed container (plastic/glass) with some Prunus laurocerasus (en:cherry laurel, nl:Laurier kers)
leaves.

The leaves need to be prepared upfront though by bruising them and left in its own closed jar for a week or so till they  become brown.  When you open the jar is you will smell "nl:bitterkoekjes, en:macaroons??" then you know it ready. This can be kept good for years.

The already brown leaves produce tiny bits of cyanide. This will help relax the dried specie.

With  these leaves you also can keep for instance unpinned specimens relaxed during your travel so you can pin them later at home (check for fungi though, so not to wet). I also use it is as relatively good killing agent.

I personally use cherry laurel successfully for decades.

A nice anecdote: One time I only got stopped at the US customs as I declared I was taking plant material into the country, don't do that! It took me a long time to persuade the customs to let me pass into the country with cyanide, hehehe  ;-)

Cheers,

Bastiaan




On 9/29/22 07:48, Sander Bot wrote:
Hi all,

Sometimes I need to relax flies to extract genitalia or to model them for photography. I use the method described in the attached paper, which works really well. Working with steam has one disadvantage though, the wings often wrinkle.
I heard there is a slower method to relax flies, which takes a day or so in which the wings do not wrinkle. Does anybody have experience with this and is happy to share this method?

Cheers,
Sander

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