How to Preserve Butterfly Wings

Rehydrate the Butterfly

• 1

  Rehydrate the butterfly. Discovering a dead butterfly that is hard and dried up is quite common. Often in these cases, the wings are closed and you won't be able to open them without damaging them. Use a relaxing chamber to rehydrate the butterfly and open its wings.

• 2

  Use an air-tight container, such as a plastic food container, for your relaxing chamber. Place several (three or four) damp paper towels in the bottom of the container.

• 3

  Add a cap full of Listerine or Pine-sol to the paper towels to inhibit mold.

• 4

  Cut a piece of wire mesh to the size of the container and place it on top of the paper towels. Place the butterfly on the wire mesh. Leave the butterfly in the sealed container for two days.

• 5

  Pick up the butterfly by its thorax (not by its wings) using tweezers. Try to move the wings carefully to determine whether the butterfly has become rehydrated and flexible. If the butterfly is still rigid, you can place it back into the relaxing chamber for another day or two.

Preserve the Butterfly

• 6

  Cover a large piece of Styrofoam with wax paper. The wax paper will help to prevent the scales on the wings from rubbing off. Cut five three-inch-by-one-inch strips of wax paper and set them aside to use later.

• 7

  Put a long, thin straight pin through the middle of the butterfly's thorax until one-quarter of the pin is left on top. Use the tweezers to gently open and spread the wings.

• 8

  Pin the butterfly to the Styrofoam upside down, pressing the pin head into the Styrofoam. Make sure the butterfly wings lay flat. Place a pin on either side of the butterfly's abdomen to help stabilize it while you're working on the wings.

• 9

  Place one strip of wax paper over the main wing on the left side and poke several pins through the paper (not through the wing) to hold it in place. Do the same for the right main wing and both hind wings.

• 10

  Wait one week, and then remove all the pins except for the one in the thorax and remove the wax paper. Lift up the butterfly by the remaining pin, turn it right side up and pin it in the Styrofoam.