A Preliminary Comparison of Trisodium Phosphate with Agepon and Decon90 as Wetting Agents to Hydrate Dried Arachnida and Myriapoda Specimens

An experiment was established using 98 dry Arachnida and Myriapod specimens to determine the most appropriate wetting agent solution out of Decon 90, and trisodium phosphate with Agepon. Decon 90 is an industrial cleaning agent, and Agepon is a chemical used in photographic film processing. The effects of both wetting agent solutions were varied depending on the taxa of the specimens. It was discovered that Decon 90 was most effective on the orders Scorpiones, Acari, Araneae (Heteropoda sp.), Amblypgygi, Solifugae and Diplopoda. Trisodium phosphate with Agepon was most effective on Opiliones and Araneae (Theraphosidae – tarantulas). Both wetting agent solutions were effective on Chilopoda.