How to preserve soft bodied invertebrates

Preserving spiders is an essential aspect to research but there are many ways of doing it with some more effective than others. When spiders are preserved well, they can last for many years with no issues. There are different levels of sterility but all methods covered here are effective.

Part 1: Collecting and killing

In this section, collection will be skipped as there are infinite methods, and each collector has their best method. Killing the collected invertebrate can be done in many ways, with the most being a killing jar or freezer.

When the spider is placed in the freezer, it will slow down and eventually die after around 40 to 60 minutes. This method has been confirmed to be painful to the spider, and it makes it harder to preserve afterwards. The better method is to use a killing jar with naphthalene or another substance. At Australian invertebrates, we use chloroform which we synthesise as high-grade chemicals aren't required, and it is cheaper. Due to the volatility of chloroform, we won't go into detail about the methods of synthesis, but small amounts are available online at chemical supply stores.

The reccomended solution consists of 70% ethanol/methanol or isopropyl, 20% distilled water and 10% chloroform.

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