Pinning and labelling your moths

My former art tutor Janie George (alumna of the Slade, no less) has been inspired by moths.

I'll be honest - I've little experience of pinning moths, though I've done a little with other insects. So I will refer you to some of the experienced knowledge-sharers of the internet.

I'll assume you're starting with a dead moth, which you'll have despatched in the freezer or a killing jar. If you pin it straight away, it'll still be flexible enough to do so. Otherwise, you'll have to relax it first.

You'll need a sealable jar or plastic box - put some wet cotton wool or tissue in the bottom. If you can put a pin through the moth's thorax already, that's great. If you can't, that's fine but you'll have to improvise something else to raise them away from the water. They should be ready after 24 hours or so.

This chap has an excellently clear video on how to relax, pin and spread a butterfly (admittedly it's the most huge and beautiful butterfly, but the principles are the same). It's full of useful tips, he's very good. He even shows how to restore a damaged specimen's detached head to its body! But I hope things like that won't happen to you.

There's a similar video here from a man at Queensland Museum - same thing, but he's dealing with a much smaller butterfly (more like the size of your moths).

I also like the photos and detailed explanation of pinning on the Insects of Iowa website as an alternative to a video.

We have spreading boards of various sizes and entomological pins you can borrow. One thing I don't have is any ordinary pins for securing the paper strips. Eventually you'll probably want to buy things of your own - in which case I've written a page about entomological suppliers.

There are some little things to note:
Unlike with beetles, the pin goes into the centre of the moth's thorax.
The rear edge of the front wing is set at 90 degrees to the body.
The front edge of the hind wing is pushed just under the edge of the front wing.
You must leave the moth in place for a week or two to set.

[I'm not sure I particularly like the idea of setting all moths this way with their wings out - I mean a lot of them don't look anything like that in real life. But it's the traditional way and I'm probably fighting a losing battle to suggest anything different.]

Remember to keep a temporary label with your moth while it sets, to remind you what it is and where you caught it. Then it'll be easier to write your final label. You should check all the names you use with the Natural History Museum's Dictionary of UK Species as this will give you the most up to date version.

Then you could add labels underneath your moth as I've explained in the beetle section.
Or you could have just one label. The important thing is to include all the what, where, when and who information. Plus for moths, it's rather nice to include the method you used to catch it. I offer an imaginary example below. You might want to type and print yours.

On The Sceptical Moth website  you can see how they've staged a micromoth (rather as you would do with a tiny beetle) - and see how labels have been attached to the pins.

Next you'll need a box to put your specimens in. You can pay whatever for a special box from entomological suppliers (like these), but if you're not feeling flush, any box with a close-fitting lid will do. You'll want to put in some moth balls (tightly secured in a corner) - to put off live insects from eating your specimens! I can give you some naphthalene for this.

Identifying moths

You might find Xanthia togata, the colourful 'Pink Barred Sallow' - CC image by Lymantria

 The Bird Guides website has an article about moths you're likely to find in Britain in the autumn and early winter: that certainly looks like essential reading. You'll also see links to other 'moths of the season' pages on species you'll find from February onwards.

Another place with moths month-by-month is Butterfly Conservation's 'Moths on the Wing'. 
The pages are based on Yorkshire captures, but shouldn't be so dissimilar to here. 

You'll probably find it's useful to be aware of the features of the different families. If you scroll down on this page at OPAL you'll find links to 'moth tips 2 and 3', which are an excellent overview, and come recommended from use on the Dartmoor field course. I can print you copies if you ask nicely.

They've been written with Waring and Townsend's 'Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland' in mind. This book is great for detailed information about the species' habitat, flight period and distribution. It also describes the characteristics of each species and compares similar species. The only trouble with it is that the descriptions do not sit near the illustrations (beautifully drawn by Richard Lewington).

But this is solved with Townsend and Waring's 'Concise Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland' - the plates are all on the right hand side of the pages, and the descriptions on the left. The book isn't very expensive if you want to buy one, although we do have a couple of copies. I think I would recommend a look at both the field guide and the concise guide.

We've also a copy of 'British Moths and Butterflies - a photographic guide' by Chris Manley. This is a very good companion book too, because it uses photographs rather than drawings, and sometimes it's useful to see a 'real' illustration. 

There are also very good online resources - for example UKMoths  - but it probably helps to use this more as confirmation once you've got a good idea from the books above. You might like Norfolk Moths (although no, we're not in Norfolk). You can see a range of daytime-flying moths at Butterfly Conservation.

The rather lovely micromoth, Tinea trinotella. CC image by Kulac.

Like everything else in the universe, the deeper you go, it seems the more there is to find out. And with moths, you'll discover that there are 'micro moths' (you've guessed it, they're generally, though not exclusively, small). And there are a lot of them. And they're not often easy to identify. Chris Manley's book (above) has photos, and they're also featured on the various websites. Butterfly Conservation have a list of some more easily recognised species. But they might be something to worry about more once you've got some experience - you could certainly stick to the macro moths for your collection.

The other thing that advanced lepidopterists get involved with in identifying species is the dissection of moth genitalia. At the moment I wouldn't have the will or the patience for this, but if you really get the moth bug you might find yourself doing it. A recent book on distinguishing difficult macro moths (which includes dissection for many species) has been written by Townsend, Clifton and Goodey and has kindly been made available online. You're asked to show your use of dichotomous keys for this assessment - but with moths, general keys really don't exist. There are a few in this book, but it's very specialist stuff. So feel free to confirm it with Katy - but I think in this instance you will be let off. You'll still need to show why your creature is one thing and not another - you'll to know and explain what the differences are between different families and different species.

And I'll probably receive hate mail from the moth-fancying community for saying this, but I don't particularly want to recommend the classic Moth Bible, that is, Skinner's 'Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles'. The reason is, it shows the moths with their wings completely spread out as you would traditionally pin them. It doesn't show them as you will see them alive and in a resting position. And for me as a beginner, that makes the book much less useful. Others will (vehemently) disagree.

Read on for information on labelling and displaying your specimens.

Killing beetles (sorry)

PD image by Emilian Robert Vicol

Mark Telfer has a page on his website where he makes a very good case for collecting (that is, killing) beetles - and your taxonomic collection, as a reference collection and way into entomology, is included under his argument. Of course this won't convince everybody but it gives a good scientific reason for those that decide to choose this group.

You might also like to read the Field Studies Council's code of conduct for collecting invertebrates, and Holly Dillon's blog post about the subject.

He also summarises the ways they can be dispatched.

Traditionally people used jars with laurel leaves torn up inside - the cyanide gas released naturally from the leaves kills the beetles. There are logistical problems because you want to keep a note of where you found each specimen, so you need to keep each specimen separate, but still let in the fumes.

An alternative is to use ethyl acetate (I have some you can have). You can set some plaster of paris in the bottom of a jar and let a little of the solvent soak in (or use a paper tissue with a few drops on it). Again the beetles will be overcome by the fumes (but do leave them in long enough as it's quite horrible to find the beetle you're pinning start to squirm). An issue with an ethyl acetate killing jar is that it really needs to be glass, as the solvent will melt plastic. But glass jars don't mix well with rucksacks and fieldwork unless you're very careful.

My personally favoured method is the freezer - the beetles can be popped in for a while in their individually labelled tubes, and I admit that I reduce my guilt by not being able to see them expire. Mr Telfer says the downside of this method is that it leaves the beetles quite stiff when you come to pin them.

There's plenty more useful advice about these and other methods on the page linked to above.

Read on for information about how to pin and label your specimens.

Identifying beetles

Pyrochroa coccinea CC image by Sarefo

Just to get things straight before we start. There are about 4000 beetle species in the UK. But don't be frightened - a lot of those are very small or quite rare. The ones you find will probably be easier to identify. But it will take a bit of effort to do it properly.

I've recently bought a very nice book called 'A comprehensive guide to insects of Britain and Ireland' by Paul D. Brock.  It's full of clear photographs and there are many of beetles. I've found it really useful to flick through - you can start to get an idea of the range of shapes and sizes and colours. Of course it won't have everything you'll find. But it is a good start, and can give you encouragement (and perhaps a little overconfidence). You'll start to see which families your beetles might come from.

I would also thoroughly recommend checking out the photos and descriptions at the Watford Coleoptera Group website - head for the gallery. They don't have everything (well they might have everything around Watford) but even if they don't have your species, you might spot something like it that puts you back on track of the right family.  It's such a shame but this excellent website hasn't worked for some months.

A black oil beetle like one I saw in Wiltshire this year, with its kinked antennae. So big! CC Mark Coleman.

Some people will say you should start by using a key. But I would say (from experience) that as a beginner you could spend a lot of time struggling through a key and all its terminology, only to get to an answer that turns out to be spectacularly wrong, and this is very demoralising. I don't want you to be demoralised at such an early stage. I think if you spend time looking at Brock's book or the WCG pages, you will start to pick out the distinguishing features that are most important within your family.

I'm in no way suggesting you should just 'match the pictures' to your specimen - you need to read the descriptions too and compare features carefully. But when there are only a few British species in a family, you may find you can have a good degree of confidence. The Black oil beetle above is a case in point.

But then -

For the novice coleopterist to progress, he or she must first discover which family their beetle belongs in. We have two books with keys to the families, which I've found very useable:
D.M. Unwin's 'Key to the families of British beetles' (you can borrow one from OJ17, or a new copy is only £7.50)
and 'Collins Field Guide to Insects of Britain and Northern Europe' by Michael Chinery (we have many copies of this).
Neither of these seem to be foolproof (my beetle tutor was unplussed by Unwin) but they seem to work most of the time, so are worth spending time on.

Both books give a brief description of each family with a guide to the number of British species. You should feel pleased to get this far - you will learn important things about different beetles' body structures. You'll get to recognise some distinctive families - the Carabidae (ground beetles), the Scarabeidae (which includes chafers and dung beetles) and the Curculionidae (weevils), for example. And you'll get to know some specialist beetle anatomy terminology.

Please do come in and use the dissecting microscopes - you'll need to. You might be able to manage to a certain extent with a pinned beetle and a handlens when you're counting the sections of its tarsi (essentially the foot). But it's so much easier with a microscope and I can assure you you will LOVE it, because - well beetles are amazing, especially in 3D closeup. I will be delighted to help you with what I know to start you off.

Cheekily borrowed from Lindroth's Carabidae book to show you some beetle anatomy. But don't panic.

So next comes the tricky bit - that of distinguishing the species. Some are easier to distinguish than others - sometimes there are only a few species in a family and they're quite distinctive. But do not be alarmed by the idea that some will be impossible - some groups are inherently very difficult, even for experienced and dedicated beetle-fanciers, and the keys don't even exist sometimes. Mark Telfer is an 'entomological consultant' and has a superb website - even he says things like "the Aleocharinae – the coleopterist’s Everest, the biggest and most challenging subfamily of beetles. Like Everest, it’s not a challenge you can really take on all by yourself. I am pottering slowly towards base camp."

So be kind to yourself and start somewhere manageable. I offer the following suggestions as a result of my own forays into beetle identification. I think my (sometimes slightly hapazard) methods are giving me enough success to feel I'm progressing (in what is a massive subject that could take up a lifetime...).

I have bought some copies of Martin Luff's key to British ground beetles (the Carabidae), and this is an excellent place to start on getting some beetles down to their species.

I also highly recommend Mike's Insect Keys. The amount of time and effort that goes into these websites is surely amazing - and it's great that people share their knowledge so freely. He has keys to lots and lots of the families, some based on the old-school bible of British beetles, a book written by Norman Joy in the 1930s. Mike's updated keys include photographs and diagrams, and they seem really clear. If you think you know what your species is, and then run it through the key, and the key agrees with you: endorphins will be released and you will want to continue with entomology. Likewise, if you were doubtful before, but the eventual answer from the key seems believable - you will feel encouraged. This is good. It doesn't always happen, but I hope it will happen sometimes for you.

Weevils are very sweet. CC image of Furcipus rectirostris by Ryszard.

I also recommend scrolling down on the front page of Mark Telfer's site  to see what information and links he has about your family (the list on the left). The advantage of online resources over keys in books is that improvements and clarifications can be added immediately. (You can be sure that whatever Mark recommends is reliable and good, but you might not want or need to leap into buying expensive books at this early stage).

(Another place to go is the Royal Entomological Society's Handbooks, where many family keys can be downloaded for free. I've spent time using Lindroth's Carabidae key from there, and although it led to considerable frustration, it taught me much terminology that's useful to understand. But I don't want you to be frightened off. I started with these but it would have been a lot easier to start with the recommendations above. We can go through these keys together if you like. It can be really helpful to have someone else to talk to who knows what crossed epipleura are.)

A Dytiscus water beetle, beautifully streamlined. CC by Rob Mitchell.

If you're interested in water beetles, there's Laurie E Friday's 'Key to the Adults of British Water Beetles.' We've a couple of hardback copies, but it can also be downloaded for free from the FSC via this link.The book has since been revised and expanded - I've not seen these editions yet but if you're really keen we could get hold of them. My knowledge of water beetle identification is woefully inadequate. Just reading this post from the Dragonflywoman has been quite instructive.They do have a reputation for being difficult though. Just remember, you don't have to identify everything you find. You can put it aside for your retirement or something, when you've got really good.

For the latest things I've spotted, look through my other beetle-related posts.

Whatever resources you use, you'll want to check that you've got the most current species name by putting it into the Natural History Museum's species dictionary.

And remember, please do come and use the microscopes, and feel free to ask for help.

Read on for information about collecting beetles, methods of killing them (sorry), and how to pin and label them.

NWBeeson's drawing of an insect leg

Pinning and labelling beetle specimens

A very large scarab beetle from Ancient Egypt in the British Museum (CC image by Rachel H)

There's a lot of information on the internet (like this sage advice from Katy Potts), but it's a lot to take in and it may make more sense once you've had some practical experience? There's a few things to bear in mind though:

Relaxing (the beetles, not you):  if it's been more than a day or so since you collected them, the specimens will get brittle and there'll be more chance of legs and antennae dropping off. So you should put them in a sealed plastic box with some moistened paper (some people say vinegar) overnight (some people say longer) before you pin them.

Pins: You need special entomological pins (I've written a page about suppliers here). They come in different widths. The bigger then number, the bigger the diameter, and you match the size to the size of your specimen. Although you can get very thin pins, I've discovered that they're hopeless for when you need to add labels, they bend. So I'd recommend you only use sizes 0 to 3 or more (even 0 is a bit small). You can buy your own pins or I do have some you can have to start with. If the beetles are too small, there are ways round this (read on).

Different insects are traditionally pinned in different places. Beetles are traditionally pinned through the right hand side of the body, through the wing cover. I sit them on a piece of expanded plastic foam so I don't pin myself in the process.

If you've got a small insect where a pin would obliterate it, you have the option of pointing, carding or staging them. Mr Telfer is big on carding but I'm not instinctively keen - it means you can't see the features on the underside of the beetle unless you de-glue it from the card. An alternative is pointing (which I've had moderate success with). You can buy or make small pointy bits of card which you skewer with a pin, and then bend the tip to glue it to the side of your specimen - preferably without plastering the entire creature in glue. Finally there's staging, which uses a tiny double-pointed pin which holds the insect to a strip of foam, which is in turn pinned as usual. To elucidate, here's an excellent picture I have willfully borrowed from the Queensland Museum webpages. I hope they would approve in the spirit of entomological education.

Examples of carded, pointed and staged specimens.

So your beetle goes on the pin first (pinned through the right hand elytra), and then you'll need to scrutinise it under the microscope to identify it.  Also at this point, you'll probably want to get its legs Just So, but without making them fall off. This takes patience and practice.

But when you leave to make a cup of tea, you mustn't forget where you found the beetle originally. I pin it through a little piece of paper that makes a temporary reminder.

When you've managed to identify it, you need to write out your labels. You could do this on a computer of course, but I quite like to write them by hand. You can consult the what, where, when and who pages for general advice. I use thin card (from an artist's drawing pad) and a super fine 0.05 pen with indelible ink (you can buy these in the SU shop). The labels are about 2x1 cm.

  You need to write two labels (or at least, this is the way I was taught to do it by an entomologist, so this is the way I am suggesting to you). One has the location and collector information on it, and the other has the identification and identifer. I was taught to put the location as the upper label and the identification as the lower label. I have to admit that this makes it difficult to see the identification and does seem somewhat daft.  So if you chose to do it the other way (or indeed a different way entirely) that would be entirely up to you.

So then you would use the pinning block (below) to add your labels to the pin. Ideally so everything was at 90 degrees, not like the slightly amateurish version pictured.

 You'll see that the pins go in the right hand side of the labels,
 and the beetle faces forward.

This all sounds quite dry but in practise it's quite absorbing, I find. It's certainly something that will suit people who like fiddly work, but don't let that put you off - I've definitely improved since I started, and the pinning is a minor part of the process. (I enjoy the collecting and identifying more)




Pinning block: This is really just a piece of metal with holes drilled into it, but it's very useful for making sure that all your specimens and their labels are at a consistent height. We've bought several so you can borrow one if you like.

The way I've been taught is to use the first (left hand) hole to position the beetle itself, and the 3rd and 4th holes for the location and identity labels respectively.

Then you can find a box to put your specimens in. I've been using transparent plastic boxes with close fitting lids. I line the bottom with a layer of foam. You can then add your beetles in some kind of taxonomic order (those in the same family together). You can also add some naphthalene in a little twist of material, firmly attached in a corner. That stops fungi and (live) insects who might like to eat your specimens. I can give you a bit of that - just come and ask.

You can buy expensive boxes from entomological supply companies if you're feeling flush, or improvise with something else - it's up to you.

Please do come in and have a chat about all this if you like, it seems a bit complicated at first, but it's not so bad when you actually have a go.

Collecting beetles

First find your beetle. CC image by Jim Champion.

The Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Invertebrates has written a Code of Conduct for collecting insects and other invertebrates, which you should have a look at (it includes things about permission and avoiding damage to habitats). But invertebrates don't get a huge amount of official protection under UK law. A few beetles are named in Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (there's a list here in table 2A- you'll be unlikely to come across any of these but at least you'll know what they are).

But now is the time to be imaginative and get searching. Your basic entomological technique is 'grubbing' - you've got to get stuck in and search about directly. Check under large stones and in soil, in amongst moss, within heaps of grass or leaves, down inside tussocks, under bark, inside rotting wood, at the base of trees, amongst fungi and dung and dead things... You can try river banks, woodland, grassland, saltmarshes, ponds... You can use a trowel, a sweep net, a stick and beating tray for vegetation... (There's more enthusiastic if antique advice here).

Another approach is to encourage the beetles to come to you - this only works with active species like the ground beetles though. Mr Telfer has lots of advice on using pitfall traps. If you're going to use propylene glycol in the bottom you really must make sure you protect it so passing animals don't poison themselves (propylene glycol is less harmful than ethylene glycol) - some kind of grid or lid is necessary.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History has a page summarising some other methods you might want to experiment with. But you have to remember that you'll be collecting your specimens over a dreary British autumn and winter, and many trapping techniques will only work when it's sunny and summery and all sorts of species are out in force. Grubbing and pitfall traps will be a considerably better bet than malaise nets for you.

A dung-baited pitfall trap (nice). Note the mesh to protect mammals. Picture borrowed from the Amateur Entomologists' Society website (with hope that they won't mind too much).

It occurs to me that there aren't just terrestrial beetles - there are almost 300 species that live in or near water. A lot are tiny and difficult to identify. But they are there if you want to investigate them (and their swimming-related adaptations). Carlos Aguilar (Paraguayan coleopterist) has written a document that contains more than you could believe possible about catching aquatic beetles. You might be able to adapt some of his ideas. We might have some equipment you can use (and that would include life-jackets and lines if you're going near water).

Read on for methods of killing beetles (sorry), and how to pin and label them.

Other traces of mammals

A hazelnut split cleanly by a squirrel (CC image by Bob Embleton)

 You might like to read this page from BBC Wildlife Magazine to whet your appetite for 'wildlife feeding signs'. Unfortunately there are no illustrations.

Rob Strachan's 'Mammal Detective' book is said to be good for these, and is pretty cheap second-hand (I don't have a copy yet).

Nick Baker's 'RSPB Nature Tracker's Handbook' is along the same lines.

I'm sure you'll find other options too - that's at least an advantage of choosing mammals, because their wide appeal with the public makes publishers happy (books on moss aren't quite so lucrative, more's the pity).

Brian Ecott has some useful photos and information on his Hainault Forest site. But I've not found much on the internet that's comprehensive. So if you get really into this, there's a definite gap you could fill...

(Return to the main list of mammal methods)