[Nhcoll-l] clothes moths in baleen

[Douglas Yanega]

On 3/24/23 4:53 PM, Chris J. CONROY wrote:
> Dear list,
>     Three years ago we found clothes moths, /Tineola/ /bisselliella/, 
> living and reproducing in 2 1-ft square pieces of dried baleen from a 
> /Megaptera novaeangliae/, Humpback whale. We cleaned it up, bagged it, 
> and froze and thawed it a few times at -25C. Then the pandemic. 
> Unfortunately, the moths have returned, presumably from not being 
> killed by several freeze-thaw cycles. Use of tools and compressed air 
> is not going to be sufficient to remove all the moths since they are 
> deep within the plates.
>      Does anyone have suggestions for effectively treating these items 
> to destroy the moths, but also not damage the baleen too much?  Has 
> anyone seen moths feeding on baleen in museums before?
>
If freezing, heating, and fumigation are not good options, then go 
anoxic if possible. I'm uncertain of the details, but have heard that it 
can be very effective.

Peace,

-- 
Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
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