Pointing Insects

The majority of insects you will find are very small and numerous and if you focus on the small insects you will collect more species, thus increasing the size and diversity of your collection. Some insects are too small or their thorax is too narrow to be pinned. Pointing is a technique often used by professionals to correctly pin small insects. Below are some illustrations to help you point your specimens.

1) You must first cut out small triangular pieces of card stalk paper. You can purchase a point puncher from most biological supply companies.

2) You will need to pin the point using your pinning block. Place the pin through the larger end of the triangle leaving at least 10 mm of space from the top of the pin to the paper point.

3) Carefully bend the pointed tip downward and add glue. Elmer's glue is recommended.

4) Place the specimen on your pinning block so that the right side of the thorax is facing you. Gently stick the paper point with glue to the right side of the specimen's thorax. You may want to give it a gentle blow to quickly dry the glue.

Most insects with a small thorax less than 3 mm in width should be placed on paper points.

Some insects such as walking sticks are too long and narrow to pin, so they can be placed on two large points crossing each other.