[NHCOLL-L:2584] Re: Dermestid Infestation

[Rebecca Newberry]

Carrie,

I'm an assistant conservator at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  I asked 
my pest control contractor about pyrethrin fumigation and he advises 
against it.  First of all, the fumigant has either a water-based or oil 
based carrier for the pesticide.  The water based carrier also contains 
xylene as an emulsifier.  Either way, you end up with some pretty nasty 
residue on everything you treat.  He also thought that there might not be a 
good targeted pyrethrin for dermestids.  Lots of critters are becoming 
resistant to pyrethrins, so you need formulas specifically designed for the 
pest you want to eliminate.  He did say you would probably see a big 
initial knock down, but that it would probably not be a long term solution.

Are you able to remove the protein based specimens for treatment?  Then you 
could thoroughly clean the exhibit components while you treat the 
mounts.  Have you considered using a freezing company for treatment?    If 
the mounts are taxidermy mounts, they should freeze just fine, provided you 
wrap them in plastic.  There may be a freezer warehouse company in you area 
where you can rent space for a month and freeze everything.  We sent a 10' 
tall Grizzly bear to a freezer place with good results and it wasn't too 
expensive.  Although sending collections out to a non-museum source for 
treatment sounds a little scary, it's better than hairless and skinless mounts!

Good luck!
Rebecca

At 11:00 AM 3/16/2005, Tim Gamble wrote:
>I am posting this for a friend.  Please reply on-list for everyone's
>benefit and I will forward the replies to Carrie.  Thanks!  ----Tim
>Gamble
>
>
>Hi everyone. I'm the Collections Manager for The Schiele Museum in
>Gastonia, NC. We are facing a possible active dermestid infestation
>in several of our permanent exhibits. We have an IPM program but
>there was no one in Collections to implement it. The infested areas
>contain intricate exhibit components as well as large mounts which
>keep us from freezing the specimens. The decision has been made to
>close off the affected areas and fumigate with a pyrethrin. Has
>anyone had any experience with this botanical pesticide? Has anyone
>faced a similar situation and if so, what did you do? Thanks for any
>help y'all can give me.
>
>Carrie
>
>
>
>
>--
>Tim Gamble
>
>Charlotte, NC
>
>Owner/Moderator of the Yahoo group Natural History at
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturalhistorygroup

Rebecca Newberry
Conservation Assistant
Science Museum of Minnesota
120 West Kellogg Boulevard
St. Paul, MN 55102
(612) 265-9841
www.smm.org