Some refinements for dissection of small Microlepidoptera

Abstract

Dissection of genitalia has been established as a method for taxonomy of Microlepidoptera many decades ago. It is indispensable for the species description and in many cases necessary for identification. Most known suggestions for standardization of techniques for Microlepidoptera have been made by G. Robinson in 1976. He stated, inter alia, that a genitalia preparation should be preserved and displayed with as much clarity as possible. It is particularly important for the very small moths. The insufficient quality of preparations, especially of type specimens, can be a serious problem for further investigation. In order to obtain high quality of preparation and to avoid unwanted scales, dust and debris in genitalia slides we suggest few refinements: a) to clean the scales in glycerol as much as possible, and afterwards boil genitalia in 10% KOH repeatedly; b) to remove phallus and anal tube (if not done in previous procedures, especially in glycerol) from male genitalia capsule while genitalia are in the drop (first; on separate glass microscope slide) of Euparal; c) to transfer abdominal pelt from alcohol to the first drop of Euparal and remove possibly remaining scales, dust and debris; d) to place genitalia capsule, phallus and abdominal pelt to the second (final) drop (on separate glass microscope slide) of Euparal and cover with the coverslip. These procedures can essentially reduce amount of redundant objects and hereby improve the quality of the genitalia slide. It should be done with exceptional accuracy to avoid possible distortion parts of genitalia.