A new and rapid method of making permanent preparations of large numbers of house-dust mites for light microscopy

Abstract

A method is described for the transfer to microslides of large numbers of mites extracted from house dust, in a single operation. Mites were frozen in water in a watch glass at -20°C. The ice was then everted onto a siliconeized microslide and the meltwater evaporated off on a hotplate at 55°C. Mounting medium and coverslip were then added in the normal way. The technique avoids the difficulty and tedium of transferring individual mites to a microslide and the haphzard and messy process of transfer in liquid medium via a pipette. Show more