Ideal preservation for maximum recovery of high molecular weight (HMW) DNA from insects is to snap freeze living insects on dry ice and store at -70C. However, dry ice or liquid nitrogen for snap freezing is not always accessible in the field. When snap freezing and ultra cold storage is not an option, gently compromising the cuticle by squishing the insect can improve the penetration of any preservation solution and thereby increase both the quantity and the quality of recovered DNA. Here we present a step by step protocol for how to carry out the squish procedure for mosquitoes. While we use mosquitoes as an example, this protocol should improve HMW DNA recovery for most adult arthropods when used in conjunction with an appropriate preservative such as 100% ethanol in excess, EDTA, or DMSO salt solution (DESS). It is advised to move room temperature squished insects in excess preservative to ultra cold storage as soon as possible. If the excess preservative will freeze solid (like DESS), and there is no further risk to cold chain before processing for HMW DNA extraction, we advise to remove the preservative solution before freezing. In our experience, we are able to retrieve good quality HMW DNA from single mosquitoes held in excess 100% ethanol or DESS at room temperature for 1 week and sequence this DNA using PacBio HiFi. Mosquitoes stored this way also resulted in good quality Hi-C data.