Had an amazing workshop with John Girdley on #Moth dissection! Taught the whole process from specimen prep, dissection, and making slides! I even dissected and IDed my own specimen, which I now know to be a Saltern Ear. Had so much fun, and learned lots! #entomology #insects #moths #mothsmatter - ThreadSky

entomolojosh.bsky.social • 67 days ago

Had an amazing workshop with John Girdley on #Moth dissection! Taught the whole process from specimen prep, dissection, and making slides! I even dissected and IDed my own specimen, which I now know to be a Saltern Ear. Had so much fun, and learned lots!
#entomology #insects #moths #mothsmatter

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Comments

mothyblackburn.bsky.social•67 days ago

Great stuff Josh! I had a day with Colin Plant learning this. It's still frustrating at times, especially with the tiny micros (my hands are not steady!), but so satisfying to end up with definite records.

entomolojosh.bsky.social•67 days ago

Absolutely, as one attendee said, he had an Ear moth agg. for 4 years and got to an ID in 10 minutes, so definitely satisfying! As for micros, I think I'll slowly work my way down in size 😆😆

davegrundy.bsky.social•66 days ago

Well done - he really knows his stuff!

entomolojosh.bsky.social•66 days ago

😄😄

chrisvincent70.bsky.social•67 days ago

Well done Josh. I'm self taught, using the 1st edition of Sterling & Parsons for the process. I'm not keen on doing macros, but I enjoy most micros (neps & Phyllonorycters are a bit tricky). Quite satisfying when you can ID these grade 4 species.

entomolojosh.bsky.social•66 days ago

Nice work on being self taught! I tried to teach myself by practicing on some Box-tree Moths that I didn't want to release back into the wild, but I wasn't sure what I was looking at. This workshop was definitely much better than what I did by myself 😆😆

wheatersdave.bsky.social•67 days ago

Well done Josh. It’s something I’m thinking of getting into, is it difficult and what kit do you need?

entomolojosh.bsky.social•67 days ago

Thank you! It will be good to put some names to my unidentified specimens. I didn't find it too difficult, the process for males is relatively simple; just pull the genital capsule out the end of the abdomen. For females it's a bit more fiddly having to cut open the abdomen and remove tissue (1/4)

entomolojosh.bsky.social•67 days ago

around the genitalia. Setting the specimens I found a bit more tricky as you have to make sure it's positioned which can take some doing. The moths we worked on were large enough you could see the genitalia with the naked eye, but with smaller moths I've been told the process is just the same (2/4)

entomolojosh.bsky.social•67 days ago

just with more dexterity (as they're smaller and more delicate)! As for kit, you'll need a microscope, 10% KOH for prepping the specimens, and two pairs of fine forceps. If you're going to set the genitalia for slides, you'll need slides, and a range of chemicals which are the expensive part! (3/4)

entomolojosh.bsky.social•67 days ago

You could always take photos of the genitalia under the microscope if you're not setting them, however. It's definitely something worth getting into I think, and I'll be carrying it on using the Museum's equipment and then investing in my own stuff (4/4)

wheatersdave.bsky.social•67 days ago

Thanks for taking the time to explain that. I’ll look into equipment and the likes online and see what the damage is 😬

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