When we set up pan traps, we normally use water to catch insects. However, if we want to use alcohol to preserve both specimens and DNA, we need to prevent alcohol from evaporation.
What liquid is not dissolved in both water and alcohol? We want to use it to cover alcohol and prevent alcohol from evaporation in open bowl trap for insects.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
To prevent evaporation, simply cap the container you are storing your solutions in (or prepare them fresh each time),
and storing at cold temperature can also decrease evaporation rate.
Proper storage at ~14 degrees C and ~70% humidity will prevent corks from leaking.
You may try propylene glycol as a preservative for pitfall/pan traps. Otherwise, add salt to water, which may help preserve DNA (by denaturing enzymes). I've also heard of some people adding EDTA+DMSO to water (1mM). EDTA inhibits DNase. Michaud et al. (2011) claim that "salt-saturated DMSO containing EDTA ... preserved DNA out to 6 months at room temperature" (For further details see references 19, 20, 23 therein). (http://www.forensic.msu.edu/documents/FSPub-Simplified%20Field%20Preservation%20of%20Tissues%20for%20Subsequent%20DNA%20Analyses.pdf)
Several studies demonstrated the effectiveness of propylene glycol at preserving DNA or even RNA, as the follows.
Ferro, Michael L., and Jong-Seok Park. "Effect of propylene glycol concentration on mid-term DNA preservation of coleoptera." The Coleopterists Bulletin 67.4 (2013): 581-586. http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1649/0010-065X-67.4.581
Frampton, Mark, et al. "Evaluation of specimen preservatives for DNA analyses of bees." Journal of Hymenoptera Research 17.2 (2008): 195-200. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sam_Droege/publication/265241884_Evaluation_of_Specimen_Preservatives_for_DNA_Analyses_of_Bees/links/5488686f0cf268d28f08f209.pdf
Moreau, Corrie S., et al. "DNA preservation: a test of commonly used preservatives for insects." Invertebrate systematics 27.1 (2013): 81-86. http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1071/IS12067
Nie, Xianzhou, et al. "Aphids preserved in propylene glycol can be used for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction detection of Potato virus Y." Journal of virological methods 175.2 (2011): 224-227. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166093411002175
Rubink, William L., et al. "Long term preservation of DNA from honey bees (Apis mellifera) collected in aerial pitfall traps." Texas Journal of Science (2003): 159-168. https://bibliotecadigital.ipb.pt/handle/10198/2909
And this is a good review of pitfalls and preservatives.
Skvarla, M. J., J. L. Larson, and A. P. G. Dowling. "Pitfalls and preservatives: a review." The Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 145 (2016). http://davinci.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/eso/article/view/3734
Hope that helps. Good luck!
Article Evaluation of Specimen Preservatives for DNA Analyses of Bees
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