Taxacom: Questions for insect collection people

Tue Jan 7 11:58:32 CST 2025

There are no liquor stores in Somaliland nor, presumably, in other countries that forbid the sale of ethanol.

________________________________
From: Derek Sikes <dssikes at alaska.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, January 7, 2025 10:56 AM
To: Mary Barkworth <Mary.Barkworth at usu.edu>
Cc: Mustafe Abdulkadir Abdurahman <mustafe441 at gmail.com>; Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu>
Subject: Re: Taxacom: Questions for insect collection people

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;

https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FEverclear&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C14515d9081ba4523244808dd2f44e891%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638718695206156938%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=d0RLsKyQM0%2BFnCIAYu7bBcXtzwlekeLvdeEKwyBpeTA%3D&reserved=0

-Derek

On Tue, Jan 7, 2025 at 8:45 AM Mary Barkworth via Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu<mailto: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<mailto:taxacom-bounces at lists.ku.edu>> on behalf of John Noyes via Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at lists.ku.edu>>
Sent: Tuesday, January 7, 2025 10:28 AM
To: Douglas Yanega <dyanega at gmail.com<mailto:dyanega at gmail.com>>; taxacom at lists.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at lists.ku.edu> <taxacom at lists.ku.edu<mailto: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<mailto:taxacom at lists.ku.edu>>
Sent: 07 January 2025 17:04
To: taxacom at lists.ku.edu<mailto: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%7C14515d9081ba4523244808dd2f44e891%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638718695206212174%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=29akbiXLZhJz9gS8Hflt1Px%2B30Mgi2q5%2FeiU1dUuD5k%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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--

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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<mailto: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%7C14515d9081ba4523244808dd2f44e891%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638718695206297304%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=4p6NhvLWBnetp05CeaPW5filaID%2BwzA98g8yhbGMwIU%3D&reserved=0>  -  search 400,000 digitized arthropod records<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farctos.database.museum%2Fuam_ento&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C14515d9081ba4523244808dd2f44e891%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638718695206344317%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qqKJSq%2FIRFtOIaBsa4URPnY8ULApAQEQVo%2FS7Dj%2BFyY%3D&reserved=0>
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