[Nhcoll-l] Pest control in Insect Collections

[Furth, David]

If your insect collection is less than 2 million, and if your collection is inside cabinets (wood or otherwise) I would suggest stopping the use of Naphthalene (absorbed into wood, paper products, and off-gasing for years).  Instead use a team of trained staff (4-6) to inspect the collection at least once a year.

At the Smithsonian we stopped applying Naphthalene many years ago and, in fact, have an active program to remove any existing crystals of it.  There are methods to suck out the impregnated gas, but they are rare and expensive.

________________________________
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Luis Filipe Lopes [llopes at museus.ul.pt]
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2013 1:54 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Pest control in Insect Collections

Hello All,

I have some doubts regarding pest control in insect collections and I was looking for some advice in what the best practices are regarding this matter.
In our Museum, the insect collection was kept pest-free using Naphthalene, though due to health issues of the people working with it has been decided to stop using this product, which I think works as a repellent and no insecticide. The room where the insects are stored still has a strong odor of naphthalene impregnated probably in the wooden cabinets, though we are not sure if this strong odor is enough to keep pests out.
At the moment, pest control is done monthly with Piretrine, which is supposed to have an insecticide action for 3 weeks.

This plan seems to be too expensive to keep, so I would like to know if there is any alternative pest-control method which does not rely on the monthly Piretrine treatment.

The room does not have any temperature control or ventilation system, so this is also not an option.

I would really appreciate any advice you could provide on this subject or if you could point me to some good guide about pest control in insect collections.

Thank you very much.

Filipe Lopes

National Museum of Natural History and Science
Rua da Escola Politécnica,
1250-102 Lisboa
Portugal
Telephone: +351213921855