SPREADING A BUTTERFLY

To be spread, a butterfly must be dead and supple. That means that it must be a fresh catch or one that has been humidified a few days in a humidifying chamber. (See section entitled "Humidifying chamber".) You will need a spreading board and some needles.

Needles

On a spreading board made of wood, like pine, I use No. 7 needles to maintain the strips and to make stands to positioned the abdomen and antenna. These needles are the longest and the hardest available; they are easy to handle. Do not use them to pin in the wings; the hole would be too big.

On styrofoam boards, needles No. 2 or 3 can do the work.

Needles No. 00, 0 or 1 are the best to pin in the wing veins.

Step One

Take the butterfly by the thorax and insert a pin (No. 1, 2 or 3 ) in the middle at a right angle until it comes out half an inch underneath. Sometimes, to have a better sighting where I pin, I use forceps to keep the wings down while I insert the pin.

Step Two

Center the butterfly in the groove of the pinning board until the wing base is even with each side of the board.

Step Three

Plastic or paper strips are needed.

My personal choice is to use plastic strips that I cut from a big sheet sold as desktop protectors. Since they are transparent, these plastic strips help me see if the four wings are evenly spread on the spreading board. Being more solid than paper, they hold the wings tighter to the drying board.

On the other hand, many books will show you the technique using strips made of paper.

Take two plastic strips and bring down the wings close to the board. The strips should be secure from moving by pinning two pins at the back end. The butterfly is now facing me.

At this point, it is good to secure the specimen from pivoting by placing two needles on each side of its abdomen very close to the back wings. These needles will be pinned in the groove. This will avoid the pivoting generally caused when we pull the forewings upwards in the next step.

Step Four

This step is the most important and could be difficult on your first few trials, but success comes with practice. The goal is to bring up the forewings until it makes an angle of 90 degrees with the body. We achieve this by inserting a very fine pin in or behind the strong radial vein. The pins (one each side) must go through the wings to reach the spreading board. That pin will be used to pull the wing up to the 90 degree angle.

It is almost necessary to lift a little bit at a time and to alternate both sides in order to keep a certain balance in the setting.

Keep the plastic strips over the wings at all time. If they are in your way, just slide them gently away.

Now that the forewings are in place, we can do the same with the hindwings by inserting two other pins in the stronger veins and placing the wings in the desired position. Sometimes, to have a better result , it is easier to slide and hide the hole made by the pin under the forewings. For this reason and because they are stronger, it is preferable to use a vein on the top part of the hindwing.

Step Five

Now that the four wings are correctly positioned, pin the two plastic strips in place with three pins each: one on top of the forewing, one between the two wings, and one on the back. Once the wings are held tight, remove the small pins used to position them.

We also have to place the head, the antenna and the abdomen perfectly straight by using other needles and creating some stands.

While I work on one side of the setting, I use my fingers to put some pressure on the plastic strip to help hold everything in place. If needed, I should hold it until the minimum of 3 pins are in place.

Step Six

After about one week (7 to 10 days), remove all the pins in the setup except for the one passing through the body. This pin is use to manipulate the insect and can also hold the data under the specimen.

Imortant Notes

When we put a pin in the wing, it is important to go for the strongest spot, normally the vein or the cross point of two veins.

Since butterfly wings are very delicate, go slowly but firmly, always using the same hole. It is not very pleasant to see big holes in the wings; it takes away from the beauty of these wonderful creatures.

When the hole is too apparent, I fill it with thick paint (generally black) from the underside using the tip of a pin to minimize the amount. This is done once the specimen is ready to be stored.

Never touch the wings with fingers or sharp objects (e.g., pins, forceps).

Always start in the middle of the spreading board and go outwards to both ends.

Keep your data beside your specimen on the spreading board.

Practice is the best teacher; be calm, agile and patient. The result will be a piece of art from nature that you can keep for a very long time.