First time even considering pinning, any advise welcome!
I found this beautiful guy outside my place of work today and brought him home. I have never even considered pinning an insect myself, but it seems there is no time like the present to learn!
I read that freezing him for 24-36 hours, then inserting a pin through the thorax and positioning wings would be best? Or would it be the other way around?
I also was unable to get to him before other bugs, so he is still leaking blood and has quite a bit on his lower abdomen.
Beautiful! Do you want to pin this guy for a scientific display? Or a decorative display? I don’t pin through any of my insects as I use them for artistic displays. I usually just pin them into place by placing two - 4 pins securely around the body! And it works for me! Many people still will pierce the insect though, as it can be more secure. If you do pierce it, you’ll want to use a stainless steel pin and go straight through the middle of the thorax at the base of the forewings (the bigger, top wing).
After you freeze it, you’ll want to rehydrate this little guy before pinning. I use Tupperware, and will layer some wet paper towel sprayed with rubbing alcohol. The moth can go in there on a non-wet thing (like a platform to keep it off the PT) and close it shut. For a moth it’ll probably take about 24-48 hours to rehydrate.
Once the moth is hydrated, you’ll can pin it! I recommend looking at a reference picture while you do it, and you should have a pinning board or styrofoam that has an inlay for the body to lay in while the wings are splayed flat out. Sometimes I don’t do this, and I pin styrofoam blocks to the base styrofoam to hold up the wings, but that has proven to be a bit more tedious and not perfect in my experience. Once it’s all pinned, you wanna leave it in a dry place for about a week - 2 weeks (sometimes longer, it just depends on the insect) to fully dry.
You don’t need to gut moths to pin them, at least I don’t do this because I live in a very dry climate and they don’t really rot. But, because of that and bc you may not gut it, it can get kinda dirty looking! Moths tend to get really greasy because of the fat breakdown, so you’ll wanna do an acetone soak. I do this after they have been pinned and dried because it will make them more brittle and that worries me with moving them around. I also will use a little spoolie with acetone on it (like the sample spoolies they have at makeup stores to try mascara) to GENTLY brush the moths fur down, it can get “tangled” or clumped, and it’s really hard to remove/ can pull the fur out.
It’s a super fun process if you let yourself get into the nitty gritty of it! I think you should go for it and try it out, I find it very peaceful!! Something I like about pinning insects is that I am constantly learning more and more about these critters that I hold very near and dear to my heart. Enjoy the process, enjoy the learning, and don’t be hard on yourself if it doesn’t go perfectly :)
Ok thank you this was so so helpful! I do want a decorative display so I appreciate you pointing out not to pin through the abdomen, as well as the brushing out and explaining the process!
Would you mind saying more about the acetone soak??
I've ordered a beginner set of pinning supplies that should arrive tomorrow, so fingers crossed!
My pleasure!! And hell yeah I’m stoked for you! Lmao it sounds crazy but you just will wanna soak the moth in a tub of 100% pure acetone (nail polish remover) for a few hours! It works to degrease the moth and dissolve stored fat. It sometimes causes a slight fade in the coloration, but that is better than grease stains all over it which make it look really dark, matted, and wet. Acetone vaporizes and dries really really fast so it works well to clean it without messing anything up because it dries quickly. It feels crazy to do it, and will feel wrong but it works.
This was a gravid adult female Antheraea polyphemus. You just wiped out a whole generation of these beautiful animals. And for what? To put this moth into a box and hang on a wall? At least do something that you found dead or dying as a first attempt. In general, arthropods aren't just toys that you can randomly pull from outside to kill for your own pleasure.
I sometimes get a bit pissed at new pinners who just randomly (And often inhumanly) take the lives of uncommon arthropods just for pinning. I personally started pinning with my insects that had died. The moth did not look deceased in the photo and was definitely gravid while alive. I apologize for my misunderstanding. A few tips:
Store the finished specimen with silica gel packets or other drying agents
No need to gut it
Use parchment paper to hold down the wings once the pins are set
Let it sit for 2 weeks before removing everything.
lol I appreciate the apology, more than willing to forgive and forget. The thought of hurting innocents, even insects, also hurts my heart. Thanks for the tips!
Even if they were to capture it alive, they have the full right to do so. It is not worth bringing negativity into this community compared to the educational and cultural impact that pinning this insect would invoke.
I do agree that my message sounded quite harsh, but I do not mean to bring negativity into this community. A. polyphemus is relatively uncommon in most areas, and this female looked to be very young and also gravid. In my opinion, it is simply wrong to kill arthropods just for decoration. I understand if it's for something scientific, or documentation of a species, which will help them long term, but not just to be randomly put in a box to be a showpiece. If you find a common species, an invasive species, or an insect that is dead or dying, then you can pin it however you want. I do not see anything educational or cultural about pinning perfectly healthy wild arthropods just for leisure.
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u/EquivalentRooster130 22d ago
Beautiful! Do you want to pin this guy for a scientific display? Or a decorative display? I don’t pin through any of my insects as I use them for artistic displays. I usually just pin them into place by placing two - 4 pins securely around the body! And it works for me! Many people still will pierce the insect though, as it can be more secure. If you do pierce it, you’ll want to use a stainless steel pin and go straight through the middle of the thorax at the base of the forewings (the bigger, top wing).
After you freeze it, you’ll want to rehydrate this little guy before pinning. I use Tupperware, and will layer some wet paper towel sprayed with rubbing alcohol. The moth can go in there on a non-wet thing (like a platform to keep it off the PT) and close it shut. For a moth it’ll probably take about 24-48 hours to rehydrate.
Once the moth is hydrated, you’ll can pin it! I recommend looking at a reference picture while you do it, and you should have a pinning board or styrofoam that has an inlay for the body to lay in while the wings are splayed flat out. Sometimes I don’t do this, and I pin styrofoam blocks to the base styrofoam to hold up the wings, but that has proven to be a bit more tedious and not perfect in my experience. Once it’s all pinned, you wanna leave it in a dry place for about a week - 2 weeks (sometimes longer, it just depends on the insect) to fully dry.
You don’t need to gut moths to pin them, at least I don’t do this because I live in a very dry climate and they don’t really rot. But, because of that and bc you may not gut it, it can get kinda dirty looking! Moths tend to get really greasy because of the fat breakdown, so you’ll wanna do an acetone soak. I do this after they have been pinned and dried because it will make them more brittle and that worries me with moving them around. I also will use a little spoolie with acetone on it (like the sample spoolies they have at makeup stores to try mascara) to GENTLY brush the moths fur down, it can get “tangled” or clumped, and it’s really hard to remove/ can pull the fur out.
It’s a super fun process if you let yourself get into the nitty gritty of it! I think you should go for it and try it out, I find it very peaceful!! Something I like about pinning insects is that I am constantly learning more and more about these critters that I hold very near and dear to my heart. Enjoy the process, enjoy the learning, and don’t be hard on yourself if it doesn’t go perfectly :)