[Histonet] Suggestions for making glutaraldehyde penetrate in between little setae of insects for microscopy

[Jay Lundgren]

A little alcohol will lower the surface tension of aqueous solutions.  Then
there's always DMSO.


                   Sincerely,

                        Jay A. Lundgren, M.S., HTL (ASCP)

On Fri, Feb 26, 2016 at 8:15 AM, Jorge A. Santiago-Blay via Histonet <
histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu> wrote:

> Hello Histonetetrs:
>
> I am trying to fix insect wings for TEM. Less than ideal fixation appears
> to be caused by abundant setae on the surface of the wings. Those setae,
> trap air, thus making penetration of the fixative more difficult difficult.
> Interestingly, also the wings tend to curl upon themselves.
>
> Options re. fixation:
> 1. Just submerging the insects mechanically does not seem to solve the
> problem.
>
> 2. We are contemplating submerging and evacuating (intermittently) a few
> times for 2 minutes (vacuuming)
>
> 3. Are there chemicals that can break the bubbles formed in between the
> setae?
>
> 4. Any other comments or suggestions?
>
> Options to minimize (ideally eliminate) curling of the wings?
>
> If you have any constructive suggestions, please kindly email it to me
> directly.
>
> blayjorge at gmail.com
>
> Of course, we intend to begin with new freshly collected insects.
>
> Gratefully,
>
> Jorge
>
> Jorge A. Santiago-Blay, PhD
> blaypublishers.com
>
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> http://blayjorge.wordpress.com/
> http://paleobiology.si.edu/staff/individuals/santiagoblay.cfm
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