Day 10 - Learning How to Pin Butterflies

    Today was, unfortunately, my final day interning at the HMNS. Hopefully, with the training I've gained from this experience, I will be able to volunteer here in the future! 

    I did a butterfly release in the morning, making sure to wipe down all of the chambers thoroughly and glue down chrysalides from the recent shipment that had fallen. I made

Pinning a Malachite Butterfly

sure to give each chamber a good mist after capturing all the butterflies that were healthy and then releasing them into the Conservatory. 

    Since it was a Friday, it was super busy with a bunch of different school groups scooching through the narrow garden paths. It was incredibly difficult to get by people to restock the butterflies' food, but with Kaeli's help, we managed to get it done fairly quickly! After that, Kaeli showed me how to pin butterflies, which was much more difficult than I originally thought it'd be. First, you had to select a butterfly that was 'relaxed' so you could adjust the wings. To relax a butterfly, you usually have to keep it out for a day or two in a container with holes. After this, the butterfly should be dry enough to adjust easily. Butterflies are very fragile so their wings are super easy to break. If the butterfly is still frozen and/or stiff, it's best not to try and force the wings into place, otherwise, they'll just break apart. The process of pinning a butterfly is first started by pinning the abdomen (with the butterfly on its back) on top of a styrofoam board. Once that is done, Kaeli told me to lift the top wings, place a strip of parchment paper across the wing, and then place one pin (as close as possible to the wing) on both sides. Then you can do the same to the hindwings. Once I did about 6 butterflies, Kaeli showed me how they usually mount the butterflies in a picture frame. Since none of the butterflies that I had pinned had dried, we just used a white Malachite butterfly. She basically just cut a centimetre of a hot-glue gun stick, glued it down, placed some glue on top of the nub, and placed down the butterfly. 

Holding an Atlas Beetle

    After this, I went to lunch with the faculty and tried Bodega's, which had super good Mexican food. It was nice to get to know them a little more, and afterwards, I said my goodbyes! 

    I want to give a big thank you to Kaeli, Celeste, Soni, Teresa, Lauren, and John for giving me the most enriching learning experience I've ever had. I'll never be able to repay you!

Additional Research: 

• What exactly is husbandry?
• Husbandry can mean many things. As a general term, it is used to describe the care of an animal and to rear it. 'Rearing' is when an animal is bred and then raised. In terms of this internship, I was focusing on the 'care' aspect of this process. I cleaned cages, replaced food, and so on. But I suppose the ultimate goal for the Entomology Department was to keep a sustainable influx of insects. They were usually 'reared' behind the scenes. Thinking about it, I did sort through foliage and substrate to find eggs on two occasions, so I suppose I did assist in their reproduction in some way. So, ultimately, husbandry is knowing how to properly care for the animal, which will, in turn, result in successful reproduction.