How does a butterfly collection work? To what, and which part of the butterfly is pinned?

Question

How does a butterfly collection work? To what, and which part of the butterfly is pinned?

Just wanting to know a little detail for a story I am writing.

Particularly with older collection (thinking 1600-1800's) from amateurs, was a corkboard used? What part of the butterfly was pinned? How were they preserved? How prevalent was this practice? Any more interesting facts??

Seriously - any information you can provide will help!

Thank you in advance!!

Answer 1

HI there... I personally have no experience with butterfly collections, however I did find some information about butterfly collections and procedures that you may find helpful:

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/199...

http://www.insectcompany.com/main/howto....