How to make a microscope sample from insect wings...?

Question

Hi...I really need some URLs about making insect wing preparations for microscops (Optical)...Please help me....

Answer 1

The easiest way is to purchase an aqueous type of coverslip mounting medium. Put a drop of the medium on a slide, place the wing in the drop, place another small drop on top of the wing, then apply a coverslip. Apply the coverslip slanted, with one edge contacting the medium first. That way the medium will flow evenly across the coverslip. If you drop the coverslip onto the medium flat, it will trap air bubbles. This however does not make for the most permanent or best resolution preparations. Making the very best microscopic preparations is a bit more involved. Here's an outline of that method ...

First you have to make sure there is absolutely no water in the specimen, for you will be using a non-aqueous mounting medium with a refractive index matched closely to that of the glass slide and coverslip. If any water is present in the specimen, it will slowly leach out of the specimen and cloud the mounting medium. This is accomplished by placing the specimens in a water-free but water-miscible solvent like 100% alcohol or acetone for an hour or so (preferably 2 changes of a half hour each). Longer exposure won't do any harm. The next step is to remove the dehydrating agent with a second solvent, a "clearing agent", which is miscible with both the dehydrating agent and the coverslip mounting medium. Solvents such as toluene or xylene have been used traditionally, but science supply companies now sell a number of clearing agents that are supposedly safer than the traditional solvents (though most of them have not been around long enough to establish data on long-term health hazards). I have been making slides with xylene daily for 40 years, and prefer it. The specimen is taken from the dehydrating agent with forceps (tweezers) and quickly (so that it does not dry out) transferred to the clearing agent. For an insect wing, a couple of changes for a half hour each is sufficient. The clearing agent not only removes the dehydrating agent, but also make the specimen translucent, so that the light of the microscope can pass through it, providing much better detail than an aqueous mount. Final mounting is done in the same way as with aqueous mounts. First put a drop of the non-aqueous mounting medium on a slide. Remove the specimen from the clearing agent with forceps forceps, touch it to a paper towel to absorb excess solvent, then place it quickly on the drop of mounting medium. Add a second drop of medium, and a coverslip as described above. Let it dry overnight and it will be ready to use, though it may not be completely dry (all the solvent evaporated out of the mounting medium) for a week or more. Such a slide will be usable for many years without any apparent deterioration.

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Answer 2

well insect wings preserve very well by simple pinning. So if it is just to demonstrate general form and slightly larger structures, just leave the entire insect under s dissecting microscope.
If you want to see fine detail, like scales on a butterfly wing for example, you could always just flatten the wing between two microscope slides, and away you go!

hope this helps!

Answer 3

Place the wing in a small petri dish with at least 50% alcohol.. The alcohol will keep the wing flexible...