- 1). Clean the insect specimen by soaking it in alcohol. Dead insects can easily develop mold and an offensive odor. Rinsing them in alcohol will remove most of the bacteria on the specimen. Do not rinse butterflies or moths, however, as this will damage or destroy the specimens.
- 2). Hydrate the insect if necessary. If you are encasing a butterfly or moth, you will likely want the wings to be open. Recently killed insects are flexible and the wings open easily. However, insects that have been dead for a few days can be brittle and will break if you try to move their wings. Hydrate them by placing them in a sealed container with a cotton ball dipped in ethyl acetone.
- 3). Insert an insect pin through the center of the insect’s body. Ensure the pin is perpendicular to the body. This step is not necessary if you are using a Riker Mount. The pressure of the glass top holds the insect in place. If you are using another display box, the pin through the insect will hold it in place and allow you to move it around for ideal placement.
- 4). Place the insect into the box. If using a Riker Mount, place the insect on top of the foam or wool in the box, then place the lid on the box. For a different display box, place the pinned insect into position on the foam bottom of the box. For displaying butterflies, once the insect is pinned in place you will need to open the wings. Use tissue paper to open each side of the wings and pin the tissue paper in place on the bottom of the box. Remove the tissue paper after a few days and the specimen will be dry with open wings.
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