LAST EDITED ON Sep-28-08 AT 01:35 PM (PST)
 
Molly,

That butterfly looks absolutely AWESOME----great mounting job

While both mountings are better than before, the moth's front wings might best be brought upward until the bottom of the FW forms a 90 degreee angle (like the front wings on the butterfly you did)to the thorax. These things do take time and I am quite sure (with practice) all your mountings will be as good as the A. vanillae butterfly you did.

Also, it is hard to tell by the picture, but the body of the moth may still be a bit big for for the groove in the spreading board. If the body is sticking above the top edges of the groove, try taking a knife to the edges of the spreading board groove and shaving off some making the groove wider or make a board with even a wider groove. If the body is 'bottoming out' in the groove, you'll have to deepen the depth of the groove some. Having the body up higher than the top of the groove will make the moth's wings be 'droopy' when you take off the bug later on.

Good job and thanks for sharing.

btw----some of us older goons who have been doing this for years have to re-mount material for various reasons. I recently was not satisfied with several Euphaedras I had mounted in the past in their drawer and re-hydrated them to re-mount them.

Again, I gotta say that that butterfly is terrific!!!! The moth could use an adjustment...I know they are harder to do than the butterfly

Oh-----I almost forgot to say that I wish my second attempt at mounting looked as good.