Insect Pins

[Doug Yanega]

>Collecting entomologists,
>We have been using Elefant pins from Austria for the past several years and
>now it seems the company is defunct, machines are down, or are otherwise
>unable to provide pins.
>Could any one please offer us some alternative sources for insect pins?
>There is a bad taste in some local folks mouth about Morpho brand pins as
>they are considered weak, with little tensile strength.
>Has anybody tried Austerlitz?

We've been buying Ent. Spendlicky/Bohemia pins through Martin Hulovec
for the last several years, and have been very happy with them - in
some ways superior to the Elefant pins (better pinheads, more
consistent in length). At US$17.50 per 1000 for enamel, and $21.50
for stainless, they are also the cheapest pins we've found. The only
drawback we've noticed (after using more than 50,000 of their pins)
are that the enamel on the latest batches is often slightly
irregular, rather than a perfectly even coating. Austerlitz pins look
almost identical, and are priced very slightly higher, but nowhere
near the price of Elefant. It's not surprising that Elefant is out of
business when there are companies that undersell them by a factor of
3! Morpho indeed has a bad reputation, and deserves it.

The one problem is that for some reason Mr. Hulovec has been
unresponsive to communication for the last month or so (His e-mail:
mhulovec at vol.cz), and many people are wondering whether something has
happened. I can offer no idea as to when or if he'll be available
again. I'd recommend trying him first, and then maybe giving
Austerlitz a shot if you can't wait any longer for a response. I have
a copy (dated February) of the equipment and price list, if anyone
needs the details.

Peace,
--

Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
            http://entmuseum9.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82