You might want to try a soft sable artists's brush, on one of your more common specimens.  As long as you go in the direction of the scales, the wings are stronger than you think.  But be especially careful at the points where they attach to the body, because pressure there could cause them to break off.
 
As stated before, however, I am not an expert; I have just raised a few butterflies for demonstrations.  
 
Kim Elmore

________________________________

From: Museum discussion list on behalf of David Harvey
Sent: Sun 11/22/2009 2:56 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] dusting delicate dried butterflies


I would be leery of experimenting this way - especially if the specimens are important. They may be very fragile and I would not trust the photo duster in the can as the air pressure can be quite high and hard to control.

It would be best to get it touch with collections staff at  natural history museums or conservators that have experience with cleaning butterfly specimens.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Senior Conservator and Museum Consultant
Los Angeles, CA


On Sat, Nov 21, 2009 at 4:35 PM, Evelyn Ayre <[log in to unmask]> wrote:


	Does anyone know if it's possible to clean dust off dried butterfly specimens?  We have some Blue Morphos that look more greyish that turquoise.  What about using a can of pressurized air (like photographers use for dusting negatives)?  Or would it be better to just replace them altogether?
	
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