Do you want to take staged pictures of an insect that is just too active? You can first anesthetize them (a little bit).
Jul 2, 2017 23:20:24 #
I prefer to take pictures of insects out in the field, but I am not above doing a staged picture of some insects or other arthropods. But some insects are very active. Others are rather rare, and I do not want to miss the shot. I have found a solution for taking staged shots of challenging subjects, and I thought to share this with others.
My sciencey background includes doing a lot of genetic research on the laboratory fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and from this background I happen to know that carbon dioxide knocks out insects within seconds. Once the gas is removed they recover within a couple minutes, and soon return to normal behaviors while still being a little dopey for a time. It is during this key period that one can take pictures of an otherwise highly active insect. Insects can be knocked out repeatedly with no lingering harm done. A handy source of carbon dioxide is a simple Alka Seltzer tablet. Just add water, and it produces a lot of the stuff. So I invented a little gas chamber to knock out insects with Alka Seltzer, and I have been taking pictures.
The first picture shows the chamber that holds an Alka Seltzer tablet. It is a 2 oz. serving cup (I use these for a lot of other insect-related things). The center of the lid is cut out and replaced by a piece of screen. The piece of paper on top is explained next.
The second picture shows that the serving cup is placed inside a larger cup. The insect is placed inside this larger cup. The serving cup fits snugly inside so the insect cannot slip down to the bottom. The piece of paper on the lid of the serving cup is to cut down on the fizzing spray of water once water is added. If the insects wings get wet, that can detract from the desired effect of making the pictures look natural. Finally, the lid of the larger cup has a hole near one edge. Once the insect has been placed in the larger cup, I can activate the Alka Seltzer by aiming water through the screen top of the inner cup. I fill the inner cup to about 1/3 full. By then, the insect is usually completely knocked out. I then wait several seconds, then take the insect out, place it on my stage (prepared in advance), and wait for the recovery.
How quickly the insect recovers is a bit variable. The example shown in this picture recovered to normal behavior in just a few seconds. But it then spent considerable time just sitting around and cleaning itself. This was fine with me, and I rather like the unusual poses. Other insects recover to normal behavior over a couple minutes. Some recover very quickly and fly away. But in all cases I feel that I had considerably more time to get pictures than what would be offered without this method.
One final note: If you want to try this, I recommend working in a room with a window and no other light source. Once the insect does fly it will probably turn up at the window, and you can look for it there.
My sciencey background includes doing a lot of genetic research on the laboratory fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and from this background I happen to know that carbon dioxide knocks out insects within seconds. Once the gas is removed they recover within a couple minutes, and soon return to normal behaviors while still being a little dopey for a time. It is during this key period that one can take pictures of an otherwise highly active insect. Insects can be knocked out repeatedly with no lingering harm done. A handy source of carbon dioxide is a simple Alka Seltzer tablet. Just add water, and it produces a lot of the stuff. So I invented a little gas chamber to knock out insects with Alka Seltzer, and I have been taking pictures.
The first picture shows the chamber that holds an Alka Seltzer tablet. It is a 2 oz. serving cup (I use these for a lot of other insect-related things). The center of the lid is cut out and replaced by a piece of screen. The piece of paper on top is explained next.
The second picture shows that the serving cup is placed inside a larger cup. The insect is placed inside this larger cup. The serving cup fits snugly inside so the insect cannot slip down to the bottom. The piece of paper on the lid of the serving cup is to cut down on the fizzing spray of water once water is added. If the insects wings get wet, that can detract from the desired effect of making the pictures look natural. Finally, the lid of the larger cup has a hole near one edge. Once the insect has been placed in the larger cup, I can activate the Alka Seltzer by aiming water through the screen top of the inner cup. I fill the inner cup to about 1/3 full. By then, the insect is usually completely knocked out. I then wait several seconds, then take the insect out, place it on my stage (prepared in advance), and wait for the recovery.
How quickly the insect recovers is a bit variable. The example shown in this picture recovered to normal behavior in just a few seconds. But it then spent considerable time just sitting around and cleaning itself. This was fine with me, and I rather like the unusual poses. Other insects recover to normal behavior over a couple minutes. Some recover very quickly and fly away. But in all cases I feel that I had considerably more time to get pictures than what would be offered without this method.
One final note: If you want to try this, I recommend working in a room with a window and no other light source. Once the insect does fly it will probably turn up at the window, and you can look for it there.
Inner cup with Alka Seltzer tablet
(Download)
The complete set up. A brush or forceps is used to pick up the immobile insect
(Download)
After recovery, this Chalcid wasp (Conura side) wanted only to clean itself
(Download)
Many minutes later, still cleaning itself...
(Download)
Jul 3, 2017 02:17:33 #
Interesting, I'll have to give this a try. Sounds better than refrigerater method.
Jul 3, 2017 04:01:21 #
Jul 3, 2017 09:12:16 #
rwilson1942 wrote:
I have tried 'chilling' several times. I do not recall ever being entirely happy with it. As you likely know, even slight chilling is sometimes fatal to the subject, for one thing.Interesting, I'll have to give this a try. Sounds better than refrigerator method.
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