9 replies to this topic

[Screamer]

Last year, around this time, I had reached out to some board members to help me find some insects for an entomology course I was taking in school. The class and project went well but I recently realized I never shared my insect collection with you all. I had to purchase the glass cabinet to store them in. Most people used cardboard boxes that were provided. I guess I went a little over the top. I wanted to be able to store them, keep them safe and be able to display everything. I understand that this might not be for everyone but for those interested check it out and enjoy!

 

Here is the overview shot of the insects that you are able to pin. Others are meant to be stored in an alcohol solution. This would be most larvae, soft bodied insects and most arachnids. Starting from upper left to right and down, they are in what is recognized as the phylogenetic order/evolutionary history.

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So the Odonates (dragonflies, damsel flies) are accepted to be some of the first true insects. Then Plecoptera (stone flies). Pictured is both the larval husk and adult. They actually leave the water as juveniles and climb ashore to hatch. The husks are commonly found on long blades of grass or sticks near the waters edge.

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Then the ear wigs, mantids, and cockroaches - I was able to pin the fleshy cockroach by removing its innards, which smelt horrid. Next is the group of Orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers).

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Then would be the rather diverse order of Hemiptera. Within Hemiptera is probably my favorite group, Heteroptera. Pictured here is a waterscorpion I captured (Nepidae- also my online poker name haha - its nasty little claws are used for snatching up prey). These guys live on blades of grass in the water and are able to get air down to themselves via capillary action using the protrusions (cerci) extending from its backside. Note the red specs on its thorax and legs. Those are mites... I unfortunately do not currently have an example but Belostomatids (toe biters) are closely related to the waterscorpions. They really have to be the most disturbing insect I have encountered. They live in the water but also are quite capable of living on land for brief periods of time. They get their name because they have been known to bite people on the feet/toes when they enter and exit the water. They have what some people describe as the most painful bite in the inset world and are capable of taking down snakes, turtles and larger prey. Sometimes they play dead to come alive and bite you! They also carry their young on their backs which looks quite disturbing. 

Waterscorpion (not the toe biter)

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Coleoptera (beetles) is probably the most diverse order that exists. As you can see they vary greatly. Coleoptera means "sheathed wing" because the hard outer pair (elytra) is one pair of its wings, the other being tucked underneath which they use to fly. This is why they are not real dynamic fliers like some of the other insects you see zipping and buzzing around. Somewhere around 30-50% of described insects belong to the beetles. The beetle under "Meloidae" in the picture is a blister beetle and this group gets its name due to the cantharidan it releases when threatened. This burns the skin, hence blister beetle. 

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Next is Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths. They really began to diversify harmoniously with the rise of angiosperms (flowering plants). Moths, like butterflies sip nectar from flowers. The larger ones in my collection belong to the family Sphingidae or sphynx/hawk moths. This is is the same group of moth that is in Silence of the Lambs... the Deaths's Head Moth. It got this common nickname from what appears to be a skull on the thorax. Some are capable of hovering mid-flight in order to sip nectar from flowers. Some moth and flower species are extreme examples of symbiotic relationships. The plant stores its nectar so far down in the flowers the proboscis (long protrusion from the moths head in the third picture) needs to be very long. The plant/flowers continue to mutate and over a long period of time the nectar becomes less accessible. Simultaneously the moths' species proboscis grows longer and longer to keep up. Soon enough the only one that can reach the nectar and consequentially, ability to pollinate the flower is this species of moth. At the same time the only nectar the moth's proboscis can functionally obtain is this one species of plant -runaway evolution! 

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And finally the most recently evolved, the Hymenoptera. Again these are the true bread winners of the angiosperms. This consists of the bees, ants, wasps and the like. This last picture embodies my other favorite group, the Ichneumonids! These things are awesome!! They are considered the parasitic wasps. They attack other groups of insects (most of the time VERY specifically - like the moth and flower). They sniff out a host and deposit their eggs in them. Most of the time they find a host during a stage of immaturity in its life cycle. This is usually during the pupae or larval stages, like a caterpillar. In some cases the host continues to live while the immature wasp(s) grow inside them. The host is essentially a zombie until the Ichneumonid is ready to hatch out and join the big, ugly world. The host usually perishes. One life given, taken really, for another. 

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Charles Darwin was so perplexed by the notion of a creator he used the Ichneumonids as an example as he wrote to a colleague:

 

"There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent & omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidæ with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice. Not believing this, I see no necessity in the belief that the eye was expressly designed. On the other hand I cannot anyhow be contented to view this wonderful universe & especially the nature of man, & to conclude that everything is the result of brute force. I am inclined to look at everything as resulting from designed laws, with the details, whether good or bad, left to the working out of what we may call chance. Not that this notion at all satisfies me. I feel most deeply that the whole subject is too profound for the human intellect. A dog might as well speculate on the mind of Newton.—   Let each man hope & believe what he can.—

Edited by Screamer, 22 June 2015 - 09:57 PM.

[TheRiddler]

Very well put together!

[Beastformers]

Awesome, very nice!

[bachamn]

very nice looking display man, and I like the Darwin quote at the end of your post too. The last few lines really deflate the whole "Darwinism is atheism!" argument I've heard tossed around so many times before

 

Also, I get why soft-bodied insects would need to be stored in liquid, but curious why most arachnids aren't suitable for pinning? 

[Screamer]

Thanks for the kind words you guys. It really was a lot of work. A couple all nighters identifying all these. There are so many mimics out there!

 

 

Also, I get why soft-bodied insects would need to be stored in liquid, but curious why most arachnids aren't suitable for pinning? 

 

Essentially for the same reason. Their abdomens tend to be rather fleshy and shrivel/shrink when dried. Some arachnids can be pinned and techniques can be used on others that would normally be put in alcohol. With spiders in particular there are key characteristics on the abdomen that helps for identification purposes. Plus it is not very "presentable" when they are all raisined out. The preservation of specimens can be very picky from an academic perspective.

 

There are so many customs that are still present today that go back hundreds of years, even though they might not make perfect sense. Just the way they are done, like any other subject that holds onto traditions. A way to pay homage to generations past I guess. 

[steverotters]

Good job on your collection.

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Edited by steverotters, 25 June 2015 - 09:27 AM.

[Screamer]

Man, wish I had been here a year ago!  This was how I spent my high school years.  Haha.  I had a display case similar to yours for every order; multiples for Lepidoptera and Coleoptera.  I went to the International Science Fair for entomology-related exhibits.  My first 3 years of college I was on entomology scholarships (then I switched majors in the 4th year, doh!)

 

I still have most of my teenage collection in storage.  I got hit by dermestidae pretty bad a couple years ago, but I can't bring myself to throw out what is left.  I have some pretty incredible domestic specimens and I was pretty much a master at pinning and spreading.  All data intact, etc.  I could have sent you a nice cicada killer and a cow killer (velvet ant), as mentioned in your other thread.  Tons of impressive beetles, butterflies, and moths. 

 

I briefly got back into collecting Lepidoptera in my mid 20s.  I tracked down international collectors and bought drystock from Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia. Some of the most incredible birdwings and swallowtails from this area.  I tracked contacts in Costa Rica and Brazil for the morphos and others.  Finally, I found a contact in Tanzania, as African butterflies are some of the hardest to import.  I created some massive and beautiful displays, but most of my stock was destroyed by dermestid beetles as I left my stock in storage for several years as i traveled.  I hate to even think about it.  I spent several thousand dollars on butterflies and basically lost them all. 

 

Anyway, cool to see your collection.  Brings back so many memories. 

 

Hope you got an A!

 

Did anyone from here help you out?

 

Are you going to continue collecting?

As awesome it is to here your story I feel equally saddened by your loss. Sounds like I am talking about a person but I know how much work (physical labor, time and money) you must have invested in it. I have seen some amazing collections that absolutely makes mine look like child's play. 

 

Those dermestids are bad news all around. There is a reason why they call them museum beetles. They destroy everything! Skin, hair, taxidermy, insects, plant matter, musical instruments, anything fibrous, you name it. I currently have my collection in that case, surrounded by styrofoam and in the box it was shipped in when I purchased it. I am still concerned about those bastards getting in though. I had/have a "curiosity box" filled with all sorts of nature finds that I had acquired since I could walk. They destroyed everything they could. I have another temporary cardboard box that I was putting all my post school specimen finds in. I found a shuck of a dermestid and I tossed it all. Was bummed about that but glad they didn't get into my main collection.

 

I have been half thinking about getting another case because I am indeed still collecting, albeit not nearly to the extent I was while taking this course. Most of the insects I get I find while doing other activities. I have gone out in the search of insects only a handful of times since I graduated. Mostly last summer and again only recently which perked my interest in making this thread. Living in the wet and sometimes cold northwest, insects are really only abundant for late spring and summer months. 

 

The Lepidoptera are the most beautiful and widely collected order. Followed closely by the beetles, in my opinion. I wish I could have seen your collection in its heyday. There was a guy in my class who worked at the Butterfly exhibit here in Seattle and he access to some pretty impressive specimens. They have living (and eventually dead) examples of butterflies from all over the world. I was rather jealous. I called the exhibit and spoke with two different people, including a manger to see if I could collect some of their dead specimens. They shot me down proclaiming it could spread disease to local butterfly populations. I really think they just didn't want to deal with me lol. The majority of his collection was butterflies, which while looked amazing, sort of defeated the point of the collecting process which was used as an aid to understand and identify all of the taxa.

 

I got an A and some extra credit for my collection and a 3.8 in the class. I was happy with that considering it was my last quarter and not doing as well in one of the other courses. I got my B.S. in biology so this was really just a course I wanted to take. The last year of school was amazing. I was actually able to take classes that interested me rather than those that were required for my degree. Entomology, limnology and invertebrate zoology were probably some of my favorites. 

 

I wasn't able to acquire any specimens directly from board members but several people showed interest which I thought was pretty cool. I wasn't sure how well it would be received. This is the only forum I have been a member of and really the only communication I have with people via internet other than ebay or craigslist stuff. I wasn't offering much in exchange and for those that have never collected before it is a lot to ask for.  

 

I never did get a velvet ant or cicada killer. One person in my class did find a velvet ant. They are very interesting. The cicada killers are bad ass! The cicada killers don't exist in western Washington to my knowledge and the velvet ant was found on a trip we went on east of the Cascades, a totally different climate. 

 

I do plan to continue collecting and just making this thread has got me really into it again. I hope to share some more with the board as my collection expands.

[Screamer]

I just saw your edit. I have seen similar examples before and they are amazing. As I said previously, I really wish I could have seen your collection. Do you ever have plans to get back into it, or do you still dabble from time to time? I could understand if the big hit killed some of the motivation. But if that is the only/main reason you don't collect anymore, I say, c'est la vie. Maybe some of the organic matter/elements has since been cycled into new insects that are just out there waiting for you to re-capture them...

[Screamer]

I didn't get confused and think this was an entomology forum, even though sometimes it might look like one   I do collect stuff other than insects. I recently finished off my Beetlejuice companions. Very happy about that. These are some of the stranger guys I have come across. In fact I learned of them here on the board. Thanks guys!

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[108KickBack]

Very cool!i wasn't expecting an entomology collection.Awesome to see from another insect enthusiast!!!! 

 

I still regret getting rid of my giant diving beetle when it died.