Yoshifumi Yamawaki kindly came to visit us in July 2012 and gave us some tuition in mantid experimental techniques. We didn’t have a lab blog at the time, but I thought I should do a post about it.Here, he shows us how to affix a tether to a mantis using beeswax, and position the mantis comfortably on a foam ball suspended in an airstream.
Yoshifumi immobilises the anaesthetised mantis
Mantis immobilised with plasticine
Lisa uses the wax melter to add some more beeswax
Mantis on ball
Mantis on ball