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Taxacom: Questions for insect collection people

Derek Sikes dssikes at alaska.edu
Tue Jan 7 11:56:37 CST 2025 

If you really want strong ethanol, and can afford it (taxed heavily in US),
perhaps Everclear or a similar product might be available in liquor stores;

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-Derek

On Tue, Jan 7, 2025 at 8:45 AM Mary Barkworth via Taxacom <
taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:

> Thank you everyone for your responses!  They are really helpful.  Mustafe
> will be looking into availability in Somaliland.
>
> Mary
>
> ________________________________
> From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at lists.ku.edu> on behalf of John Noyes via
> Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 7, 2025 10:28 AM
> To: Douglas Yanega <dyanega at gmail.com>; taxacom at lists.ku.edu <
> taxacom at lists.ku.edu>
> Subject: Re: Taxacom: Questions for insect collection people
>
> Hi Doug,.
>
> For once you and I agree!
>
> John
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Douglas Yanega via Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu>
> Sent: 07 January 2025 17:04
> To: taxacom at lists.ku.edu
> Subject: Re: Taxacom: Questions for insect collection people
>
> 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%2Fuk01.l.antigena.com%2Fl%2FRVcnx2yhzjBcdgiQEDZQ8-_-l0nhlBRVoRVqiAnIUExNZKkfgdavFQ1bvdlw7nHjlSaVVD6mK-FRRulfD61FZSMc4EMH15sneBjWPveNGM06Vu5XiDQb_7qi27mbSR4BwC7JSXT-Cq0gG8T1PBelUSer9UeZnfgv0tL4Av4CVwKZp2oU4Hb0XLfXQr~-AHCoQa8Zzxej7VRxzYGVQKkk8i5e-a_8Elcg8zcKlfWml0g64Nn4_Y0Hpxv-~9l4spcNcGPEB0cjSabg&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C7030a2e185eb4b62ca8e08dd2f44a8d2%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638718694131131874%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=kD9HPCz3XbNRULedWi2Zfowk7DOs6W2OV8tZR4RWY%2Bs%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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>    "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>          is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
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-- 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
*Derek S. Sikes*, Curator of Insects, Professor of Entomology
University of Alaska Museum (UAM), University of Alaska Fairbanks
1962 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK   99775-6960
dssikes at alaska.edu phone: 907-474-6278 he/him/his
University of Alaska Museum <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uaf.edu%2Fmuseum%2Fcollections%2Fento%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C7030a2e185eb4b62ca8e08dd2f44a8d2%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638718694131148940%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=wGP5kLM4U9ghzUr3DyWsnZNwAhK4bpVjRin%2BFceMzyc%3D&reserved=0>
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