<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14px;"><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Hi all</div><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">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.</div><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Best wishes</div><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Leif</div><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div contenteditable="false" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </span></div><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><hr id="previousmessagehr" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; user-select: none;"><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Fra</strong>: "Bastiaan Wakkie" <bwakkie@syrphidae.com><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Sendt</strong>: 04/10/2022 12.57<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Til</strong>: syrphidae@lists.nottingham.ac.uk<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Emne</strong>: [Syrphidae] Re: relaxing flies</span></div><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;">Hi Sander,</p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;">I let the dried specie sit in a closed container (plastic/glass) with some <em fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Prunus laurocerasus</em> (en:cherry laurel, nl:Laurier kers)<strong fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong>leaves<strong fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">. <br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong></p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;">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.</p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;">The already brown leaves produce<span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> tiny bits of cyanide. This </span><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">will help relax the dried specie.</span></p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;"><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">With  these leaves you also can keep for instance unpinned specimens relaxed during your travel so you can pin them later at home </span><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">(check for fungi though, so not to wet)</span>. I also use it is as relatively good killing agent.<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;"><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">I personally use </span><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">cherry laurel successfully for decades. <br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;"><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">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 </span><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">cyanide</span>, hehehe  ;-)<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;"><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Cheers,</span></p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;"><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Bastiaan<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;"><span fr-original-class="mw-page-title-main" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><p fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin-top: 1px;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></p><div fr-original-class="moz-cite-prefix" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">On 9/29/22 07:48, Sander Bot wrote:</div><blockquote cite="mid:CADxnVEsJtS3kB+DVUK77tqA19bAiZtKF4g6Ff2t6U9Ez1-U_jA@mail.gmail.com" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-left: 2px solid rgb(94, 53, 177); margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 5px; color: rgb(94, 53, 177);" type="cite"><div dir="ltr" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Hi all,<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">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.<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">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?<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Cheers,<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="ltr" fr-original-class="gmail_signature" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div dir="ltr" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sander</div></div></div></div><pre fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible;">This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">and may contain confidential information. If you have received this<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">message in error, please contact the sender and delete the email and<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">attachment. <br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. Email<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored <br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">where permitted by law.<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></pre><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><fieldset fr-original-class="moz-mime-attachment-header" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></fieldset><pre fr-original-class="moz-quote-pre" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible;" wrap="">_______________________________________________<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Syrphidae mailing list<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a fr-original-class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" fr-original-style="" href="mailto:Syrphidae@lists.nottingham.ac.uk" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 102, 147); text-decoration: underline; user-select: auto;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Syrphidae@lists.nottingham.ac.uk</a><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a fr-original-class="moz-txt-link-freetext" fr-original-style="" href="http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/syrphidae" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 102, 147); text-decoration: underline; user-select: auto;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/syrphidae</a></pre></blockquote><pre cols="72" fr-original-class="moz-signature" fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible;">-- <br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">----<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Bastiaan Wakkie<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a fr-original-class="moz-txt-link-freetext" fr-original-style="" href="https://www.syrphidae.com" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 102, 147); text-decoration: underline; user-select: auto;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.syrphidae.com</a></pre><pre fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: visible;">This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">and may contain confidential information. If you have received this<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">message in error, please contact the sender and delete the email and<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">attachment. <br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. Email<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored <br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">where permitted by law.<br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></pre></div>