How to Kill and Preserve Insects and Spiders 

Yeah, I'll endorse the freezer method. For some insects whose color can be destroyed by exposure to alcohol or ethyl acetate, the freezer is the best option because it won't discolor them.

This helped me a lot my cicada recently died and I wanted to preserve them because they meant a lot to me

my mom literally screamed when she saw some dead beetles in the freezer

When I was an entomologist in Juneau AK. (at the Federal Building) in the 1970s, our killing jars consisted of a lidded glass jar with a cotton disk at the bottom which was soaked with hydrogen cyanide. It was quite effective, but needless to say you didn't want to breathe any of the cyanide fumes when the jar was uncapped for inserting or removing insects from it. :-O If you detected the odour of almonds, it was too late, hahaha!!! ;-) Good to know that there is a safer killing jar now! :-)

my mantis died so im planing on putting him in opoxy resin

I’m an exterminator and I often time bring home critters I find at work to put into resin. I drop them in a sample container with some alcohol than once I’m home pin/prop while they dry so that I have them ready to go!

The achole method and the freezing mother are great. Thank you for the video

May I mention that you have oddly beautiful hands

Thanks for the acetone advice for the kill jar. I have a wooden adjustable setting platform I ordered from Carolina biological. Have yet to use it but this video def helps for the setup 👍

since im not a scientist or anything, i prefer to find them already dead or take them if theyre still in good condition after theyve been killed, but either way, i have such an appreciation for the ones i have and have preserved and am in the process of preserving. their beauty astounds me and i have great respect for their lives :)

If you don't mind me asking. I am beginning to epoxy resin mounts. I have at the moment nothing. Can you suggest a set or kit to start with from Amazon? I don't know where to begin, but I have seen several of your videos and they seem the best to date on how to preserve them. Other youtube channels I have seen are more of craft things, which is not what I wanted to get in. Thank you.

At 8.25 minutes you talk about other people and your wife going through the fridge and finding insects.😂🕸🕷🦗🐞🐝🐜🦂🦋🐌😎

Thank you. Inspiring video! What is the best way to preserve a tarantula? I presume it constitute as hairy insect and hence it will be either the freezer method or the acetone? Which method is the best for finishing the specimen in resin?

So I just found the *_BIGEST SPIDER IVE SEEN IN MY HOUSE_* I saw it literally flopping around the floor literally. Not sure where it came from. I wanted to save it because it looks really scary and I can say *_I actually found this spider in my house_*

Thanks for this info. Would white vinegar work?

A really good way to preserve Coleopteras is by putting them on a tube or container with a paper towel that has been saturated with 5% acetic acid (vinegar will do). The specimen will be really malleable thanks to the moisture and acidic environment, and no mold or other degrading things will grow. Also, it does a great job in preserving colours (at least while in the container).

Sorry if im bit late but how will i be able to preserve my camel spider?

How can I preserve a butterfly, my problems are parasite, molds (sort of a web like), I got a bunch of dead butterflies I just put them in a box, when I checked on them couple of days after there all stuck on each other because of the mold so I cleaned it up by removing the mold like a stock web on to the affected specimen, after couple of days I checked on it again somes of the specimens heads and tails gone and the wings are ruined not only on the edges but also on the tail part when I checked it there's some holes on the tails of the butterflies

Can I put the kill jar in the freezer? Or do I have to move my insects to a different container then freeze 🤔

Are they stiff and not flexible when I put them in alcohol?

Great video very informative thank you.

Thank you! You're very helpful!

What’s the best one for Tarantulas?

How long does insects get preserved in hand sanitizer?

Can putting insects which have been death for 3-4 days in freezer stop it from further rottening

Hi. I have a black widow in a bag for my grandson. Will the freezer kill it? I don’t want to give him a live spider.

Would the acetone method/refrigerator work for killing and preserving a green fig beetle? Or would the acetone ruin the metallic shine?

Again realy helpfull! thank you

What would be the best way to preserve a mantis species? I want to get back into keeping them but I would love to save them after they pass away naturally in for my insect taxidermy collection. I don't always want to necessarily pin them so what would be the best way otherwise to keep them?

Thank you for these tips! I'm preserving a yellow jacket. This is my first time doing it.

Great job

Hi sir, just to be super sure because I'm paranoid in accidentally destroying a good specimen... So I found a (possibly) freshly dead carpenter bee, possibly Xylocopa Latipes, black shiny body with purple tinge wings, in my front garden and wanted to preserve it. I say "possibly freshly dead" is because I can still move its limbs but rigor mortis has started setting into one of its limbs... It's currently in a temporary container so yeah... So here are the main questions... 1. Since it's partially fuzzy and according to your video, the best way to preserve it would be the freezer method or the acetone method? I mainly want to preserve it for display, set it into a nice pose and mount it on a rock or branch and into a display case kind... Although I bet everyone would say pinning it would be better... Oh, and there's also the account of possible mold outbreak in this high humidity country I live in (Southeast Asia)... 2. What's the best/safest way to clean out a dead specimen found in the garden? Like I said, I'm so paranoid in accidentally destroying the specimen that I was trying and delicately using a damp cotton bud... 3. I got a liquid hand sanitizer of 51% ethyl alcohol and 10% ispropyl alcohol and my sister has something of 99% alcohol (she didn't mention exactly what but I'm still trying to find out)... According to your video, that's not really a safe idea for a dead partially fuzzy carpenter bee right?

How do you make them stay still in that box?

I plan on catching and preserving insects for my 21st birthday this weekend and this video has helped me learn how to preserve them!

So how long do you keep the insect in the alcohol? I want to dry out a dead mantis I found and put it in resin

Can you spray the insect with fixative under pins, then dry, then resin?

when I was 7 my grandmother's older husband passed away and I got a casted scorpion necklace that he made. It was casted in glass and looked really cool, this is how I got into bugs crafts and crap like that

What might be a good way to find insects already dead? I am more interested in mounting specimen for art, not to study, so I see no point in killing for art.

how long should the insects stays in the freezer?

Love insects! Thanks for the info!

Found a bee on Saturday and it's almost Tuesday...I have it just in a box in my cupboard...do I need to put it in the freezer? I plan on relaxing and pinning probably Wed or Thurs

im wondering, i started collecting the past month casually because i thought it was fun and kept finding cool bugs on the ground, but i want to take it more seriously and preserve and pin them on a board. what should I do in order to get them to be less dry so i could shape them the way i want when pinning without breaking them? also how do i ensure the bugs don't decompose or cause mold while pinned?

I found a dead Eastern Hercules beetle. Will it be destroyed if I put it in alcohol? The shell is hard and colorful.

Can freezing work on black widows

How to preserve black widows without their sacks shriveling up? I have tried twice but after 2 or 3 days the rear sack with the big red hourglass shrivels up.

Ok so. I found a june bug struggling to move correctly and looking like it was dying. I put it in the jar like you said for 5 minutes. I pinned it on some foam, but didn't put any pins through it, just used pins to position the legs. It was like that for 2 days. The next day I went to look at it and it was gone!! I had it on a shelf away from where my dog could have gotten it, I don't have any other pets, and no one else was in the house, so naturally I was really freaked out. I found it on the shelf moving and walking around, not very well but trying to walk. I felt so bad I put it back outside. What happened?? What did I do wrong??

Tarantula keeper here.Just found an albino cricket. Hoping the color stays after.

Does salts helps the specimen last longer? because the theories of using salts kinda mess my mind.

Soo do you think this would be good for my tarantula I lost using alcohol?

Can fungus or mold distroy ethanol

Hello to preserving insects like wasps and butterflies what is the solution used please ? Thanks really for you r helpful videos

Hello, can we inject the chemical like acetone into insect body (butterfly/moth)? Thanks

I found a morimus funereus yesterday and I put it in a container, it could be dead today... what should I do now? (I want to preserve it for a lifetime let's say.. as all collectors do. Lol)

I pined a huge dragonfly and it lost its color and smells SO BAD! How do I prevent this from happening? Or is it normal?

What do I do after the freezing? I have a big, beautiful dragonfly in my freezer, and would like to frame him. Can someone point me towards the right tutorial for frozen specimens? :)

What was the white stuff in the killing jar?

Please Replyy, what will happen if i put an insect in the refrigerator. Then if i take the insect out of the refrigerator for a long period of time will it decay??

If the bug is alive and you capture it, how would I preserve it? I caught a venomous spider that was in my house and I wanna preserve it but I'm unsure how. It came back to life after a day in the freezer 😅😅

I have a pet black widow that died and I wanna preserve her. Would the alcohol be best bet?

Do I have to remove the guts from a may beetle? He's under an inch long but pretty bulky What do you do after the bug is killed in alcohol?

Does the freezer count for wolf spiders?

Great video., i have read that Victorian entomologists used crushed young Laurel leaves in their killing jars i wondered if you have heard of this or the use this method..Best wishes

How are they preserved once mounted?

What about dipping into varnish?

Is there a certain Percentage Alcohol , you used in the Jar?

How to get rid the smell in the insect i collected?

I have a question I hope you can help me with I live on eastern shore of Maryland and live about 100 yards from a marsh I've lived here most of my life and have always been drawn to animals so much I didn't fo to college because I wanted to be the guy in the water with sharks I'm a marine nut living 5 mins from the chesapeake bay any way when I was little I didn't mind spiders in there place I would feed them especially lil jumping spiders watching them jump on my hand with a meal was just amazing watching them they just looked like they were smart but as I get away from ? for the past couple of years I have noticed what I believe are a species of wolf spider around that I never noticed as a kid I have one pinned that I killed in the house that on my life from front rite leg to back left fully stretched would Be 5"but because i wanted to keep to show off he is stiff but waaayyyy to big to be in my home lol I don't harm them out side in fact I play or feed them but anyway is there a way to preserve him better or is it to late I have a box of big spiders and a wasp In my house it's old so I'm sure there is all kinds of ways in the deed said was built 1900 any help would be great I have pics if would help

How to preserve long term?

I don’t prefer alcohol because they writhe and swim and then their shape becomes contorted. I only use alcohol posthumously

Can i use this asetone method on a juvenile chameleon?

What is the thawing process?

Hello I found a very rare monkey face golden insect how do I preserve it

i just started an insect collection.i currrently only catch butterflies,put them into an envelope and mark the species and date. i mostly kill them by squezing their thorax,this kills them in a matter of seconds,will this make them less valuable?

I justed started catching bugs i normally dont..but i learn to do epoxy resins to preserve them to show them off and also to study them and learn about them..but it hurts me a little just to kill them for science but at least they die for a Good cause...

Best advice to freeze a spider without it curling up too much?

I cant stop looking at the hair on your shirt

tysm

What is that in the bag at 2:20?

I used a kill jar, and all the insects I put in there survived. I thought they died, but I came back after pinning it and they were all moving and trying to get away

what about a jumping spider

What percent alcohol hot rob comes in several percents i got 50% 70% 91% list keeps going i want to keep the main colors and save there DNA if some one needs it please comment back

I threw my phone the moment I saw that caterpillar

4:22

🤙

I couldn't kill any insect, spiders, preying mantises and moths i adore, I'd definitely collect and keep ones that passed away naturally but dont kill bugs for "fun" dude they're awesome js

Insect hunter, what is the best way to catch/handle a praying mantis?

Ive had a bug in a tin for 2 years It hasnt changed much actually

We gotta get a new name for the kill jar guys 😅

Done this with a centipede🌝

How to preserve human? ;')

The ladies will just have to understand 😎

Bro you're a Rex Jones doppelganger

I remembered I preserved a cockroach when I was a kid lol

Insect hunter, how do you preserve flies?

You shouldn't kill bugs just for the sake of putting them in resin.

Roach afetr froszen for 900 years pepole Wow rare insect

I once got insect in my marbles!

And what about resin,I mean if you are not gonna use them for science.

I found a scarab beetle

can we preserve cockroach with alcohol