Vast insect collections in natural history museums have never failed to leave me in awe. This week, I was given the chance to try my hand at insect pinning to contribute to the TEE Lab’s very own insect collection!
Over the weeks leading up to this session, we collected a whole range of insect specimens for us to pin. This included beetles, bees, butterflies and even a cockroach, giving us plenty to work with.
Gathered at the TEE Lab (along with several of our curious neighbouring Forest Ecology Lab members), Prof Eleanor and Xin Rui taught us the ropes of insect pinning!
Xin Rui giving us a skillful demo on insect pinning.
While handling insect specimens, you want to be ever so careful with their fragile bodies. Ashamedly, I admit that my clumsy fingers managed to break off not just one, but both the antennae of the butterfly I was pinning. However, albeit the unfortunate state of my butterfly’s antennae, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the pinning process. It involved carefully spreading their wings open, while making sure not to damage the miniscule scales that cover their wings. Achieving a perfectly pinned butterfly specimen was beyond satisfying, not to mention how stunning they looked with their wings spread open for all to admire.
(Left): A Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe) pinned by Dr Kang Min. (Middle): Alexis carefully arranging the forewing of a Blue Glassy Tiger. (Right): A Lesser Banded Hornet (Vespa affinis) pinned by Li Si.
Several of us tried our hand at point mounting too – an alternative method to pinning when the specimen is too small. It involves gluing that tiny specimen on the pointed end of a small card. This process even requires a microscope to ensure that the specimen is properly point mounted in place. Meticulous? Indeed. Rewarding? Absolutely!
Looks like a mass insect acupuncture session, but this is actually how our lab’s dung beetle specimens are arranged to keep them in place before they get point mounted.