Story URL: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=212854
Story Retrieval Date: 5/19/2013 2:04:58 AM CST
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Pinning your insects in place
by Anthony Raap
Dec 05, 2012
Anthony Raap/MEDILL
Instructor Karen Kramer Wilson hands out butterfly specimens at an insect-pinning class, teaching students how to display insects..
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Upcoming events at the Peggy Notebaert Nature MuseumInsect enthusiasts learned how to pin and display butterfly specimens Tuesday at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.
Besides offering a hobby, insect pinning is also a valuable scientific resource. Entomologists use pinning to preserve and identify insect specimens.
"You're still preparing them in a way that they will last and will be able to see the physical features that will help you identify them," said Karen Kramer Wilson, the museum's living invertebrate specialist.
"That need is still there," Wilson added. "It's a current scientific pursuit as well."
