Taxacom: Questions for insect collection people

[Douglas Yanega]

On 1/7/25 8:19 AM, Mary Barkworth via Taxacom wrote:
> If ethanol is not legally available for either killing or storing insects, what is the best alternative? Two that have been suggested are hand sanitizer (70% alcohol plus other compounds) and isopropyl alcohol. Are there other alternatives? Any comments would be welcome. Both legal availability and cost will factor into the final decision but, before looking into those, what would be the best alternative to ethanol, assuming it is legally available in Somaliland, the country where we are working?

There is one liquid that is preferred by entomologists for collecting 
abroad: propylene glycol.

It is a non-toxic and non-flammable food additive, preserves DNA better 
than ethanol, evaporates more slowly than water, and it is not 
prohibited or controlled in any way. It is commonly sold as a feed 
additive for consumption by livestock, and therefore not generally 
difficult to find in foreign countries, and inexpensive ($30 US per 
gallon or less).

Just one example:

https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scahealth.com%2Fp%2Fultracruz-propylene-glycol-supplement%3Fsrsltid%3DAfmBOop_0WFT_5KBi5cGdTfJlz-QflUxYQFrZuSDLO-kC6ZtqMDXrUrN&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C36bb4e1ad4094792ae1908dd2f3d2996%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638718661950129071%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lL4F6UZle43se1Zcubo2QBVE4ZbysviwCA365YSy7VY%3D&reserved=0 


I expect that there are farmers/ranchers in Somaliland who use it, and 
the stores where they buy it shouldn't be hard to track down.

It is cheap, safe, and the *food-grade PG formulations* are great for 
insect preservation. All you need to do to prepare the insects from it 
for pinning is rinse with 95% ethanol and then dry them.

We have a giant bucket full of it, and use it routinely for malaise 
traps, berlese funnels, and pitfall traps, and for international 
shipping. It can be sent in the mail without any restrictions.

Peace,

-- 
Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314  voicemail:951-827-8704
FaceBook: Doug Yanega (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
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