storing insects for morphology AND molecules

[Johan Liljeblad]

Dear all,

please excuse me if you receive this in more than one copy, as I am posting my
question on both Taxacom and Bugnet, as well as Parahym.

My question concerns catching and storing insects in different concentrations of
ethanol under different storing temperatures. Ideally I would like the material
to be available both for morphological study as well as DNA-sequencing. The main
groups of interest in the inventory I am carrying out, are small hymenopterans
and dipterans.

For morphology: what is the ideal concentration according to your experience,
and how high can you go before material usually becomes too brittle,
cecidomyiids are bad enough as it is in 70%? How long can you store really small
Hymenoptera and Diptera before they degrade too much, and how much does
temperature matter?

For molecules: I have heard that 96% ethanol isn't necessarily the best. Yes,
you get rid of the water, but the DNA might become fragile in the process so you
might be better off even with 70%. Do you have any recommendations as to how
long you can store material at different temperatures and ethanol concentrations?

Do you think that storing in 80% as cold as possible (maybe fridge temp) could
be a possible compromise?

If you have any recommendations it would also be valuable to know from which
group(s), and when appropriate which gene(s), your experience applies to.

Sincerely,

Johan

--
Dr. Johan Liljeblad
Project coordinator
Department of Entomology
Swedish Museum of Natural History
P.O.Box 50007
SE-104 05 Stockholm
SWEDEN

Phone: +46851954091
Cell:  +46705178254
Fax:   +46851954099

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