What if the insect is too small to pin & not soft bodied?
(card pointing): • Insects too small to be pinned should be mounted on a card point. • Card points are small triangular pieces of white cardboard through which a #3 insect pin is placed. • Points are made using a point punch. Obtain these points from your teacher. • Lay specimens to be mounted on their left side on paper towel. The insect’s right side should be up towards you! • Place a # 3 pin through the broad end of a card point. This is easier if you lay the point on a plastic lid so it doesn’t bend when you thrust the pin through the card point! • Use tweezers to bend the very tip of the card point downwards. • Place a small amount of Elmer’s glue on the paper towel and then touch the bent tip of the point to the glue. • Touch and hold this bent tip with its glue to the right side of the thorax of your insect. Hold the tip to the insect for at least one minute. • Set the pin up into Styrofoam making sure the glue is dry & the insect’s body is parallel to the pinning surface. Sprea
