A perforated anodised aluminium slide for improved specimen clearing and imaging for confocal laser scanning microscopy.

We describe a perforated and anodised aluminium slide that was designed to hold the distal tips of the pedipalp appendages of the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum during clearing, and that can then be used directly for confocal laser scanning microscopy. We believe that this slide design will be helpful for others who want to visualise specimens between 500 and 800 µm with confocal laser scanning microscopy.