1. First, put the insect into a closed box with moist cotton or paper towel. It works fastest if the insect is on top of moist paper towel. The insect will be become movable in about 24-48 hours, depending on the size and species. Check the specimen every 12 hours to be sure it does not rot or mold. Anti-microbial or anti-fungal agents can also be used to insure this does not happen. Proceed now to step 2.

2. In the mean time, be sure to prepare what ever type of spreading board will be sufficient to pin the insect into the desired position with. With butterflies, moths, and insects you wish to spread the wings of, it helps to have a cleft in which to place the body so that the wings can lay flat on a surface at the proper position/angle. Also, be sure to have pleanty of pins before you start mounting the insect! (and some glue in case of accidents)
Caution: Do not touch the wings of butterflies and moths! The scales that give them their beautiful color will wipe off! Proceed now to Step 3.


3. When the specimen is relaxed so that you can safely move the necessary parts without breaking them, remove it from the box and proceed to Step 4.


4. For butterflies and moths, first pin the body into the grove of the pinning board as shown. Next, put one pin on either side of the body so that it does not twist any (just in case). Then, use a pin to GENTLY move the front wing on one side into the correct position by poking and dragging it on the very front edge where the strongest vein is. once the wing is in place, push the pin into the pinning board. Repeat this step for the other wings. Finally, place strips of paper on top of the wings and pin them down flat. This will insure that the wings are as flat as possible. Proceed to Step 5.

5.Use as many pins as needed to hold down any other parts of interest, such as legs or antennae. Place the specimen in a safe dry place where there is little traffic and people (or animals) are not likely to touch it. Leave it out of the sun. Check it every day to be sure it does not mold or rot. Specimens can also be placed in a dessicator (drying box) if you have one with proper dessicant material.


6. Leave the specimen at least 2-3 days until dry. This will vary, of course, depending on the size, species, and sometimes gender (male or female) of the specimen. You can carefully check the antennae and wings to see if they are yet stiff as you remove pins. If they are not, re-pin the parts into place and wait another 2 days. The antennae of butterflies and moths usually dry long before the wings.


7. You can pin the specimens how ever you like, but here are some guidelines for proper museum-like lepidoptera pinning and wing positioning:
     1) The hind edge of the front wings should be even with each other at a 180 degree angle as shown.
     2) Some specimens can be pinned upside down on the same position. If you are short on space, you can fold the specimen in half and pin it with only one wing up, or spread only one wing and fold the second back to view the top side of one wing. With grasshoppers and beetles it is often nice to have one specimen of a species with one wing/elytra folded out ward. All but one of a specimen of a species in a collection of dragonflies are often pinned with the wings folded up and on its side.


8. At this stage, you should now have a beautiflly mounted insect specimen! You can do many things at this point. Most of the time you may simply wish to pin the specimen into a proper protected pinning case. For particularly aesthetic (SP?) specimens, you may wish to remove it from the pin and mount it in some kind of riker frame or shadow box. Be as creative as you like without damaging the specimen!

Good Luck and Have Fun!!! :)

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