Hi Amos,
I have a long experience working with insects and the best way to cut 
cuticle is to include the sample in plastic resin, the same as used in 
preparations for electronic microscopy (Araldite or Durcupan). The hardness 
of the paraffin is very different to that of cuticle and as a consequence=20
the cuts break down. The only problem of using resin is that it does not 
allow certain coloration methods, but for a general picture it is very good. 
As for the fixer, it depends on the tissue that you want to study, and with 
which details. For general purposes the mixture alcohol - formaldehyde- 
acetic acid can works well. If you are interested, I can send to you the 
detailled protocols.
Teresita


Dr. Teresita Insausti
Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte (IRBI)
Université François Rabelais - Parc Grandmont
37200 Tours
France



e-mail: tere.insausti@univ-tours.fr
Phone: +33 (0)2 47 36 73 66
Fax: +33 (0)2 47 36 69 66
http://www.univ-tours.fr/irbi/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Amos Brooks" 
To: 
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 4:24 PM
Subject: [Histonet] BUGZ


> Hi,
>   Here's an oddball question. I have a researcher that wants to bring me
> mosquitoes for paraffin sectioning. I immediatly had a chill when thinking
> of cutting the chitin. Has anyone worked with similar bugs, and if so how
> did you process them to make them cuttable? What fixative would be best?
>
> Thanks,
> Amos
> _______________________________________________
> Histonet mailing list
> Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.6.15/1649 - Release Date: 03/09/2008 
07:15


_______________________________________________
Histonet mailing list
Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet