technique for the study of insect-borne pollen

Fuchsin glycerine jelly provides a method of transforming insect or stigma-borne pollen into a semi-permanent mount in the field. All that is required is a container of jelly, a needle, microscope slides, cover slips and a spirit lamp and the preparations can be made very conveniently and very rapidly. For example, often the best method of identifying insect-borne pollen is to make a set of reference mounts while actually in the habitat under study.