Minutens
As the name implies, these are TINY pins. Really really tiny pins.
Only 12mm in length and 0.25mm, 0.20mm, 0.15mm and 0.10mm in diameter. Some suppliers refer to these as sizes 25, 20, 15 and 10 respectively. For clarity, we will also use those sizes.
As a point of reference, size 000 insect pins are the same diameter as size 25 minutens.
Minutens come in packages of ca. 500 pins. This is a package that one never wants to drop or spill.
Note that size 25 minutens are unique to EntoSphinx, while Kostal produces only sizes 15 and 20.
Most minutens are stainless steel.
However, Entochrysis and Austerlitz do produce black enamel minutens, but these are only available in size 15. Aesthetically there may be a reason to favour a black pin, but with minutens, there is no cost-advantage to choosing black enamel.
Minutens do not have a head. Even the blunt end can go through foam.
For display or storage purposes, one end of the minuten is inserted in the insect, and the other end is inserted in a small piece of foam (plastazote). A regular insect pin, with a label, is inserted in the other end of the piece of foam.
Glue boards and minutens are both used to deal with arthropods that are too tiny to pin in the usual way. Due to their “fluffy” surface, micro-moths are usually pinned with minutens, not glued onto glue boards as “fluff” interferes with the ability to glue the sample properly. Beetles, on the other hand, are typically displayed on glue boards. Flies and wasps can be treated either way. This is partially a matter of preference and partially a consideration of the exact specimen being displayed.
