[Nhcoll-l] Dermestid colony

[Barry OConnor]

A note on rooftop dermestid colonies - beware of "wild"
*Dermestes*entering colonies and bringing parasitic mites (
*Paracarophenax dermestidarum*, *Lardoglyphus* spp.). We had this issue
while our colony was temporarily on the roof during renovation of the "bug
room" some years back.
All the best! - Barry


On Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 11:03 AM, Alexandra Snyder <amsnyder at unm.edu> wrote:

>   As you have noted, dermestid beetle colonies should never be anywhere
> near museum collections (typically they are kept in a separate building or
> on the roof top of the museum) but with limited space and funding, good
> museum practice is often difficult to achieve.  One method of containment
> that I saw in practice at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) was
> to have trenches full of "tanglefoot" surrounding the room in which the
> colonies are maintained. You may want to contact them for further details.
>
>
>  *************************************
> Alexandra M Snyder, Collections Manager-Fishes
> Museum of Southwestern Biology MSC03-2020
> University of New Mexico Albuquerque NM 87131
> PH./FAX 505.277.6005     amsnyder at unm.edu
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [
> nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] on behalf of David Dyer [
> DDyer at ohiohistory.org]
> *Sent:* Thursday, August 01, 2013 8:17 AM
> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] Dermestid colony
>
>   Greetings,
>
>
>
> I am planning to start a dermestid colony for skeletal preparation. In my
> last position I operated a large and active colony that was isolated in a
> separate room and down the hall from the collections storage.  However at
> this museum it looks like the only option will be in the lab and office
> space that is directly next to the collections storage.  Has anyone come up
> with a safe way to operate a colony to minimize escapees and potential harm
> to the collections? We had a pretty strict protocol for the dermestid
> colony in my last job and had very few, if any, problems in many years of
> operation. However, I need a fool-proof system to also keep our history and
> archaeology curators from being too worried about their nearby collections!
> Has anyone set up a similar colony? Any ideas are appreciated!
>
>
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> ==========================================================
>
> David L. Dyer
>
> Curator of Natural History                              Phone:
> 614-298-2055
>
> Ohio Historical Society                                      Fax:
> 614-298-2089**
>
> 800 E. 17th Ave.                                                    *
> ddyer at ohiohistory.org*
>
> Columbus, Ohio 43211-2474
>
>
>
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>
>


-- 
-So many mites, so little time!

Barry M. OConnor
Professor  & Curator
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology/Museum of Zoology

University of Michigan                  phone: 734-763-4354
1109 Geddes Ave.                          fax: 734-763-4080
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079          e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
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