[NHCOLL-L:3344] RE: Anthrenus in Dried Crustacea

[Jean-Marc Gagnon]

Lisa,

 

At the CMN, we use freezing for most pest control issues. This approach, however, is not necessarily appropriate for all natural history objects. For instance, teeth on vertebrate skulls may not respond too well to such treatment, resulting in some cracking. 

 

I have no problem using this approach for dry crustaceans, provided the specimens are protected from risks of physical damage and placed in sealed plastic bags. The plastic bags will prevent condensation on specimens after taking them out of the freezer. 

Note that we use walk-in freezers with temperatures about minus 25-30 degrees Celsius for at least one week. For active infestations, I would extend the freezing period by at least a week or two.  Unfortunately, regular household freezers barely go below minus 4 degrees Celsius; specimens would have to be kept in them for much longer periods of time to achieve an effective pest extermination.

 

If you have access to freeze dryer (lyophilisator), this is a relatively fast, effective way to remove all water from these specimens and associated pests, killing every thing in the process. In this case, of course, you cannot and do not need to place the specimens in plastic bags.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Jean-Marc

 

Jean-Marc Gagnon, Ph.D.

Chief Collection Manager                                                           Gestionnaire en chef

Invertebrate Collections                                                             Collections des invertébrés

Canadian Museum of Nature                                                      Musée canadien de la nature

P.O. Box 3443, Station D                                                            Boîte postale 3443, Succ. D

Ottawa, Ontario                                                                           Ottawa, Ontario

CANADA   K1P 6P4                                                                     CANADA   K1P 6P4

 

Tel.: 613-364-4066

Fax / Télécopieur:  613-364-4027

e-mail / courriel: jmgagnon at mus-nature.ca <mailto:jmgagnon at mus-nature.ca> 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Lisa Conyers
Sent: March 2, 2007 4:39 AM
To: NHCOLL-L post address
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:3343] Anthrenus in Dried Crustacea

 

Hi there

Can anybody tell me how to deal with Anthrenus in dried crustacean collections. I know the protocol for vertebrate specimens is to place them in the freezer, is this an acceptable method for crustacean material or should I do something else instead?

Thank you for any information you can give me.

Cheers

Lisa
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Lisa Conyers - Zoological Collections Technician (Invertebrates)
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Parks Road
Oxford OX1 3PW
UK

http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk

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