A cockerfly is a member of the insect family that is best described as a cross between a cockroach and a butterfly. Its official species name is Noahivius Weinsteinicus. This name was derived by adding a whole bunch of Latin-sounding things to the name of its initial discoverer, Noah Weinstein.

Very few living specimens of the cockerfly are known to exist. As such, very little information is available about the insect. One thing that us scientists know for certain is that while the standard cockerfly can withstand large doses of nuclear radiation, they are extremely fragile creatures and are brittle to human touch.

The cockerfly's natural predator is the domesticated cat. Predation accounts for their low population numbers as cockerflies are only found in highly urbanized areas populated by abnormal amounts of domesticated cats. Unsuccessful efforts have been taken to increase their population numbers by breeding them in captivity. Despite their best efforts, scientists were unable to set the mood to encourage mating amongst cockerflies. Scientists' spouses were not surprised.

On account of people's love of cats, and scientists always showing up to ruin the mood, it is likely that the cockerfly may go extinct in our lifetime. They are currently on the list of endangered species. In spite of rapidly dwindling populations, very few people are upset.

Considering that the continuation of the species is pretty much a lost cause, follows are instructions on how to help accelerate the extinction of the cockerfly through the acquisition and preservation of your very own specimen.

Step 1: Go Get Stuff

You will need:

A scalpel
Tweezers
Dental picks
#2 insect pins
A sealable jar
A refrigerator
A roach problem
A dead butterfly
Krazy Glue
A cardboard surface
The ability to hold your breath

(note: this will not work if you own a domesticated cat)

Step 2: Acquire a Cockroach

Before you can preserve a cockerfly, you will need to acquire a garden variety cockroach to use as reference.

Cockroaches can easily be found in offices located above restaurants and any apartment in Manhattan.

Catch an adult cockroach and place it in a sealable container. For this I used an empty salt shaker.

Step 3: Euthanize the Cockroach

Kill the cockroach by placing it in the freezer. After two to three hours in the freezer, it should be good and dead. Take it out of the freezer and remove the cockroach from the container. Be careful handling it as not to damage it.

(Note: Dr. G says you should always wash your hands after handling cockroaches as they have been known to cause allergies.)

I covered the holes on the top of the salt shaker with a piece of painters tape after concern was raised about placing a cockroach in the freezer with a container that had holes in it. I highly recommend a fully sealable container to circumvent this problem.

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.

Step 5: Free the Wings

Foremost, never touch a butterfly wings with your hands. It removes the coloration. Secondly, butterflies are very fragile. If you can avoid handling it by its wings, please do. Always use tweezers and dental picks to handle a butterfly.

That said, pin your butterfly down to the cardboard.

Using your scalpel, cut the wings free from the thorax such that a relatively sizable piece of thorax is left connected to the wing (for the time being).

Once both wings are free, remove as much of the remaining bits of the thorax as possible from the wing while leaving just enough thorax in place to still be able to grasp it with tweezers. An easy way to do this is to place pins around the perimeter of the wing at an angle, which acts to temporarily hold it in place while you cut.

Step 6: Attach the Wings

Look left. Now, look right. When you are sure no one is looking, Krazy Glue the wings onto the body of the roach (below the roach's wings).

This is a difficult, frustrating, and, at times, infuriating task. Fortunately, this Instructable is here to help.

The first helpful thing you can do is place a pin into the cardboard near the body of the roach and use this to hold the roach's wing back so that you can easily glue the butterfly wing underneath.

It also helps to have two pairs of tweezers for positioning the butterfly wing just right without using your hands.

Most importantly, it helps not to breathe. Seriously folks, don't breathe. You will notice that exhaling will almost assuredly move the butterfly wing (which, as per the butterfly effect, will ultimately cause an unwanted pregnancy in Cincinnati and ruin the Prom for everyone).

What worked for me was to take in a deep breath and position the wing as best I could during that time. When I couldn't hold my breath any longer, I would then turn my head completely to the side and exhale. I just kept repeating this process until I was done. Easy as that.

Lastly, if the nozzle from the Krazy Glue is too large for you to work with, try applying a small amount to the tip of an insect pin and using the pin to apply the glue.