part 6

To facilitate handling, I placed the spider in a vial to rest in the freezer for 5-8 minutes, with frequent checks to make sure the spider was alive. I then removed the spider from the freezer and gently took it out of the vial using a brush. Next, I placed the spider on the center of a stretched-out piece of Parafilm. To enclose the spider, I folded the Parafilm over it and applied pressure around the spider. Then I carefully punctured the resulting air bubble with a pin, making sure that the spider remained unharmed. 

I placed the tightly wrapped spider over a sectioned quarter of a Styrofoam ball, so that it was centered on the curved surface. In order to secure it to the Styrofoam ball, I applied pressure over the extra Parafilm. With a pin, I then carefully removed the Parafilm over the spider’s head to reveal all its eyes, without exposing the spider’s chelicerae (Figure 5).