[Nhcoll-l] Pest control in Insect Collections

[Peter T Oboyski]

We stopped using naphthalene and pulled all the crystals from the drawers
before moving to a new building four years ago. Our new space has much
better environmental control and the windows are sealed (as opposed to our
previous building), but our drawers are in open-faced compactors and not
closed cabinets. So I still worry about infestations. Our only defense is
vigilance and regular inspections - so far, so good. But, of course, no
organic materials are allowed through the museum door without spending a
few days in the -80 freezer. This is probably the most important aspect of
our (anti-) pest program (well worth the investment).

Last month, our Environmental Health and Safety department sampled both our
new and old space for naphthalene and PDB (which we used occasionally). We
were curious whether the old wooden drawers were still off-gasing much and
if there were any health concerns. In both spaces ambient naphthalene and
PDB were below detection levels and there was no human health issue (within
4 years of removal). We still keep our types in closed cabinets - and the
air sampled from these cabinets detected very faint traces of naphthalene,
but well below health standard limits.

Pete
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter T Oboyski, PhD
Collections Manager & Senior Museum Scientist
Essig Museum of Entomology
1170 Valley Life Science Building
University of California, Berkeley

mailing address:
1101 VLSB, #4780
Berkeley, CA 94720

http://nature.berkeley.edu/~poboyski/
http://essig.berkeley.edu

essig.museum at gmail.com
510.643.0804 (work phone)
510.847.0360 (cell phone)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Thu, Apr 4, 2013 at 12:10 PM, Furth, David <FURTHD at si.edu> wrote:

> 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
>
>
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> Nhcoll-l mailing list
> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>
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