Pinning Foil vs. Pergamen Tape: Which One Should You Use?

Thin foil strips work best for butterflies and smaller moths. Thick foil sheets hold down the wings of large, robust species like Saturniidae and Sphingidae, and work well on other insects with sturdy wings, such as larger beetles. Pergamen (parchment) tape is the most flexible of the three — it covers a whole spreading board in one piece with no cutting, and is the best option for pinning down small details like wing tips that a foil strip is too narrow to reach.

Quick answer: which one do I need?

If you're spreading butterflies or small-to-medium moths, start with Pinning Foil Strips. If you're working with large, robust Saturniidae (silk moths) or Sphingidae (hawkmoths), or with beetles that have sturdy wing cases, reach for Pinning Foil Sheets instead — the thicker material presses down firmly enough to hold larger wings in place. Pergamen Pinning Tape is worth having alongside either one, mainly for covering a whole board at once or handling small details neither foil option reaches well.

Thin foil: Pinning Foil Strips

Pinning Foil Strips are pre-cut, transparent, 15.5cm (6.1in) strips, available in 3cm and 4cm widths. They're the thinnest and gentlest of the three options, which is exactly why they're the right choice for butterflies and smaller moths — the material is soft enough to hold delicate wings in place without scuffing the wing scales, and transparent enough that you can see the wing position clearly the whole time you're working.

Because they come pre-cut to length, there's no prep work — you just position a strip and pin through the foil on either side of the wing.

Thick foil: Pinning Foil Sheets

Pinning Foil Sheets are A4/Letter-size (21 x 29.7cm / 8.3 x 11.7in) sheets, 150 microns thick — noticeably thicker than the pre-cut strips. That extra thickness is the point: large, robust specimens like Saturniidae (Atlas moths and other silk moths) or Sphingidae (hawkmoths) have heavier wings that need firmer, more even pressure to stay flat while they dry. The same thicker foil also works well on other insects with sturdy wings, such as larger beetles.

Sheets aren't pre-cut, so you trim your own strips to whatever width and length the specimen needs — useful for unusually large or unusually shaped wings that a fixed 3cm/4cm strip wouldn't cover well.

Pergamen Pinning Tape

Pergamen Pinning Tape is a soft, semi-transparent parchment paper, sold in rolls from 10mm up to 50mm wide. It takes a little getting used to compared to foil — you can't see the wing position through it quite as clearly, sitting somewhere between thin and thick foil in terms of visibility. What it's uniquely good for is coverage: because it comes on a roll, you can lay a single continuous piece across an entire spreading board instead of cutting and positioning individual strips. It's also the best option for small detail work, like covering the tips of the wings when a foil strip is too narrow to reach that area cleanly.

Glass slides: the faster alternative

Glass Slides work differently from foil or tape — instead of pinning individual strips over each wing, you press the wings flat between two smooth 108 x 51mm (4.25 x 2in), 2mm thick glass panels (sold as a set of 2). It's a genuinely different technique, not just a variation on foil, and it's especially popular with people mounting framed insect displays — the flat glass gives a very even surface and lets you pin a specimen noticeably faster once you're used to it.

It's not the method used for every specimen on this site — some preparators love it, others prefer the control that individual foil strips or tape give them, and it comes down to personal preference more than one being objectively better. One practical note: handle with care, since glass edges can cut — that's the main trade-off against foam or wood pinning boards.

FAQ

What's the actual difference between the foil strips and foil sheets?

Thickness and format. Strips are pre-cut to a fixed 15.5cm length in 3cm or 4cm widths — ready to use straight away. Sheets are larger, uncut A4/Letter sheets at 150 microns thick, meant to be trimmed to your own strip size. The sheets' extra thickness is also what makes them better suited to large, heavy-winged species.

Can I use pergamen tape to cover a whole spreading board?

Yes — that's one of its main advantages over foil. Since it comes on a roll rather than as pre-cut strips, you can lay one continuous piece across the entire board instead of positioning several separate strips.

Which one should I use for a large silk moth or hawkmoth?

Pinning Foil Sheets. The thicker, 150-micron material presses down firmly enough to hold large, heavy wings flat while they dry — thin foil strips are better suited to lighter-winged butterflies and small moths.

Why can't I see through pergamen tape as clearly as foil?

It's a different material — parchment paper rather than clear plastic foil — so visibility is somewhere between the thin and thick foil options. Many people find it takes a bit of adjustment at first, but it's a normal trade-off for the coverage and detail work it's good at.

Is there a faster alternative to foil and tape?

Yes — Glass Slides, covered above. It's a different technique with its own learning curve rather than a straight upgrade, worth trying if speed matters more than the fine control foil and tape give you.