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Photo#731750
Braconid - Orgilus - male

Braconid - Orgilus - Male
Big Gypsum Valley, near Slickrock, San Miguel County, Colorado, USA
June 22, 2012
Size: 4mm
Desert Riparian, caught in Willow habitat, Tribe Phygadeuontini?

Moved
Per Dr. Michael Sharkey.

Moved from ID Request.

Braconidae
Bloated and deteriorated because of the weakness of the alcohol it was killed and preserved with. For Ichneumonidae (and I don't see why it should be any different for Braconidae) I used to recommend 95% ethanol, when available

 
thanks!
I'll up the ethanol percent for this sample. any chance it's Subfamily Euphorinae?

 
Definitely not a euphorinae, but there is ...
... a fair chance its a Blacinae.

 
ETOH
Unfortunately, the damage isn't reversible. When I first worked for SEL, I would often be sent specimens in weak alcohol. Proteins would have gotten broken down and ooze out of the spiracles and into the ETOH, where some of it would deposit on the body of the specimen. Not infrequently, the propodeal spiracle would have a glob of the glop in and around it. As a result, I had a stamp made for requesting that specimens be killed and submitted in 95% ethanol. Actually, there was a fellow who would sometimes collect a few ichneumonids in 70% ethanol and give them to me because he was only interested in the beetles he collected. Even if they had been in 70% ethanol only overnight, I would see that the proteins had already begun to go into solution. This does not happen with 95% ethanol because it denatures the protein so that it doesn't go into solution. At least that was the explanation I recall from a book on histology.

I forwarded the link for your photo to Dr. Sharkey, a braconid specialist. I just haven't heard back from him yet. Perhaps he is away from the office.

 
ah, thanks for all the information!
my study is targeting all arthropods, and I get few Braconids and Ichneumonids, but good to know for the future. right now I'm using 60% to capture (since it evaporates in the desert so quickly) and 80% for storage, so I can at least start storing these ones in 95%.
Thanks again for the help!

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