Catch a Cockerfly

Step 4 Pin the roach

Pin the roach to your piece of cardboard such that it is held firmly in place (and if it accidentally wakes from the dead, it's not going to go anywhere). An ideal place to pin it is through the center of its body, just below its head. Be careful not to pin through its wings.

Comments

[emptyport]

You actually don't want to pin in the center of the body.  The standard among entomologists is to pin just right of center.  If you pin in the center you are no longer able to see what the insect's body looks like right there.  If you pin off-center a little bit, you are able to see the center of the body; and since an insect's body is symmetrical, the features you pinned over on the right side of the body are visible on the left side of the body.
If you just want to fool your friends pinning in the center is fine, but pinning to the right makes it look more like a specimen from an entomologists collection.

[randofo]

Thanks for the tip! That is very good to know.