Squeeze a pair of forceps (Fig. 1G) to the closed position. Insert the tip of the forceps into the notch between the moth's thorax and abdomen (at arrows in Fig. 2) so that the opening plane of the forceps is the same as the long axis of the moth's body. Once the forceps is inserted, allow it to open; one tine will use the back of the thorax as an anchor, and the other tine will force the abdomen dorsad, away from the thorax, until it separates from the thorax. If you break off any legs during this process, they can be placed into a gelatin capsule (Fig. 1A) which is stuck onto the specimen pin, to keep the dislocated structures associated with the specimen.

Once the abdomen is removed, place it briefly (just long enough to submerge it) into absolute ethanol (Fig. 1B; this wets the abdomen so that you don't get any "refusal to submerge" surface-tension issues when it goes into the macerating agent), then transfer it into a vial of aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, which is the macerating agent (Fig. 1C; Drano will do fine for this). Leave it overnight at room temperature to clear it.

As stated above, this merely amounts to cleaning away non-informative tissue from the genitalia structures. From the sodium hydroxide, transfer the cleared abdomen briefly into distilled water (Fig. 1D), to remove as much of the sodium hydroxide as possible (if too much of it remains, it can become problematic in glomming up a dissection). Then, for the actual dissection, transfer the abdomen to 70% ethanol: 30% distilled water (Fig. 1E), in a glass dissecting dish (Fig. 1F). Use two pairs of fine forceps (Fig. 1G) to do the dissection.

To give an idea of what the first look will be like, below are images of male (Fig. 3) versus female (Fig. 4) abdomens of Olethreutes sp., both presented in ventral view. In the male, the genitalia consist of a sclerotized ring with a pair of clasping valvae, one valve on either side. In; in Olethreutes, the structure of the valve is informative in species ID. In the female, at the very apex of the abdomen is an ovipositor, and anterad of this is the copulatory opening. In Olethreutes, the structures surrounding the copulatory opening are informative in species ID.

Figure 5 shows a conventional Olethreutes dissection; male in left-hand panel, female in right-hand panel. The male is presented in caudal aspect, with the valvae reflected 90 degrees laterad from their in-life (posterad) orientation; the female is presented in ventral aspect.

Genitalia preparations can be mounted onto microscope slides. Otherwise, they can be stored in glycerin (Fig. 1I), either in genitalia vials (Fig. 1H) or in 96-well immunoassay trays (Fig. 1L). Glycerin is most easily dispensed into these media by use of a syringe and hypodermic needle (Fig. 1J), and dissected genitalia preparations can be manipulated into and out of storage units with a simple tool made from a minuten pin stuck into the end of a piece of staging-block foam (Fig. 1K).